AMD driver 26.10.1 problems: terrain glitch fixed in 2.04.02, Pailune crash fixed in 2.04.06

The problem: right after the October 29 update (version 2.04.00, the one that added Charting the Unknown), mountains all over the map turn into huge jagged spikes, terrain pops out of the ground and twitches, and big chunks of rock show up where they shouldn’t. The game ran fine before the patch. Almost everyone reporting it on Steam has an AMD graphics card, most often an RX 9070 or RX 9070 XT.

The fix: update the game. Pearl Abyss confirmed it was a problem with AMD driver version 26.10.1, and its 2.04.02 hotfix on October 30 fixed graphics that showed incorrectly on that driver. The patch is out on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox and the Epic Games Store. The issue has also been taken off Pearl Abyss’s official known issues list (last updated October 31). So if you’re on 26.10.1, install the latest game update and restart before you touch your drivers.

Nobody on the Steam threads has reported back since the patch yet, so if the mountains still look broken after updating, use the old workaround below.

Still broken after the patch? Roll back your AMD driver

Before the hotfix, Pearl Abyss’s known issues list said to install driver 26.8.1 or earlier from the AMD website. That still works as a fallback:

Only if you’re still on an older game version:

1. Open AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition and check which driver you have. 26.10.1 is the version Pearl Abyss named.
2. Go to the AMD website and download driver 26.8.1, or any older version you know worked with the game.
3. Install it, restart your PC, and load into the game. Head somewhere with mountains in view to check.
4. Once you’re sure the game is fixed for you, you can go back to a newer driver.

How far back do you need to go?

If you do roll back, go with the version Pearl Abyss gave, 26.8.1 or older. Players on Steam tried different versions with mixed results: one said rolling back to 26.9.1 made the problem go away, while another went to 26.9.2 and it didn’t help at all. A third player said they’d gone back a month and still had the glitch. 26.8.1 is the safe pick because it’s the one the developer recommended.

Crashing in Pailune on 26.10.1? Fixed in 2.04.06

There’s a second problem with the same driver. On November 1, Pearl Abyss added a new entry to its known issues list: the game crashes in Pailune if the Cinematic graphics option is turned on while you’re using AMD driver 26.10.1. Update (November 4): hotfix 2.04.06 lists this crash as fixed. It’s out now on Steam, PlayStation and Xbox. The Epic Games Store and Mac App Store versions will come later. Update the game first.

If you can’t get 2.04.06 yet, Pearl Abyss’s workaround before the fix was to install driver 26.9.1 or earlier from the AMD website.

A player with an RX 9070 XT on 26.10.1 described a similar crash on Steam. Walking through one part of the Pailune camp near the ranch darkened the screen and caused a stutter, and then the graphics driver timed out. It happened three times in a row in the same place. Going back to driver 26.8.1 stopped the crashes for them, though the brief darkening was still there.

Only if you’re still on an older game version:

1. Open AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition and check your driver version.
2. If it’s 26.10.1, download 26.9.1 or an older version from the AMD website and install it.
3. Restart your PC and head back to Pailune.

According to Pearl Abyss, the crash only happened with the Cinematic option on. Other players are also reporting crashes when they fast travel to or fly over north-western Pailune, and not all of them have said which graphics card they use. If you’re not on AMD 26.10.1, try the PC crash guide instead.

Things that didn’t fix it

Players in the same threads went through every graphics setting one by one, verified the game files and reset the AMD shader cache, and none of that made a difference. If you’ve already tried those, update the game first and only roll back your driver if that doesn’t help.

Not on AMD?

Both bugs are specific to AMD’s 26.10.1 driver. If your game crashes after the update rather than showing broken terrain, check the PC crash guide instead. If it won’t launch at all and tells you to reinstall, here’s how to fix the “problem with the game installation” error.