For Those Experiencing Crashing :

[Xero]

So, my game started to crash frequently every 20-30 minutes. I was at the end of Tier 5. Then I decided to download the expansions. Well, the game code is not backwards compatible for DLC's. Once you unlock Tier 4 already, the achievement for Tier 4 will never be unlocked until you purchase one of the required DLC's. In my case, it broke the game code and would crash the game even when there wasn't a lot of game state load. Like while I was idle and shopping at the stores.

I did not backup my saves before Tier 4, so I'm going to start over. Now that I know the ropes of the game, it won't take long. Make sure to backup your saves and get the DLC's before progressing beyond Tier 3 Empire. I hope this has helped.

Cloud And Local Saves Can Be Found :
Steam\steamapps\common\Saints Row\sr5\_cloudfolder\saves\SR

Crashes Can Happen For A Number Of Reasons :

- Low System Specs

- Outdated Drivers, Windows Updates And Essentials :

Direct X (Microsoft Page)
https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=35

Latest .Net Framework (Microsoft Page)
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/install/

Latest Visual C++ Redistributable (Microsoft Page)
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-US/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170

- Overclocking / Underclocking

- Modding / Cheats

- Etc

Side Notes :

- I Recommend Turning Off Auto-Save Setting

- Load Game From Main Saves And Not Auto-Saves.
If there is any incompatibility issues, corruption or glitches, it won't be mixed with main saves while trying to auto-save.

[vlad_dimov]

I had exactly same issue a pretty much close ago (see last post #11 how I resolved my case):

When I played this game for initial time somewhere in February 2024, I also used some of Clean cheats, mostly for restoring player's health / player car's health (because I'm weak and I wen using them when I got I was around to get killed and therefore failing current mission I'm in) wouldn't get past around 54% because two of the Tier 1 Criminal Ventures Tier 1 wouldn't trigger / unlock (few other users has exactly same issue as me but there was NO SOLUTION found) and I wouldn't finish this game at 100%. but even with Clean Cheats used, game itself was completely stable for me.

I decided to try out two 100% savegames published at ModNexus. The first one was with both of DLC Districts (from both The Heist and the Hazardous and A Song of Ice and Dust DLCs also completed on that 100% savegame), and the other has only the majority of the DLC clothing already bought and present, but without neither of both DLC districts completed.

When I tried the savegame with both of DLC districts completed and basically all weapons also unlocked… Oh man, I got exactly same issue as you - this savegame just f**ked my game as it started crashing to desktop and closing from nowhere without any errors, I was unable to play for more than 15-20 minutes.

Then I tried the 100% savegame with being only DLC cosmetics and clothing bought, but WITHOUT any of the DLC areas completed. Oh, viola! I played with Clean Cheats again for more than hour and... with this 100% savegame, my game was NOT CRASHING to desktop ANYMORE at all (those random quits to desktop has stopped completely!).

I use low end old GPU AMD HD Radeon 7800 series 2 GB VRAM and I play at 720p Windowed with mix of Low-Medium settings and I get mostly upper 30s-low 40s as FPS. I don't know on what graphic mode you're playing, but I can only play in DirectX 11 mode (I cannot enable game's FSR upscaling mode because it can be only enabled on Vulkan and DirectX 12 modes which are unavailable for my GPU).

[Xero]

I just finished putting a PC together. I just got this game not long ago. It plays well on the laptop and PC. On the laptop, I had to turn down some settings like reflections and shadows. But the PC can run on max settings. My specs are on the profile.

Yeah, It's like I got to tier 5 but never unlocked tier 4 in achievement's even though I completed it and I was wondering why till I found out I had to get the DLC(s). Once they were installed, I thought everything would correct itself. Turns out it made it worse and it crashed all the time. I kept telling myself, "This is no longer enjoyable anymore."

Never purposely owned a game where DLC(s) were required with the base game. Or would mess the code up and not be backward compatible. I'm glad people like us have it figured out. Sucks a little to have to start over but I missed some scenes and dialogue. I played the original Saints Row and Gat Out Of Hell. Fun games.

On the Laptop, it shows DirectX 11 and Vulkan. On the PC, it shows I can use all three but it says DirectX 12 is recommended for my hardware. It runs great on both but DX12 seems to have better graphic settings.

[harken23]

My machine (a relative toaster) crashes if I use DX12 (after 4 hours or so), but 11 works without any issues.

[Xero]

The laptop recommends DX11 and if I run DX12 for other games like Aliens: Fireteam Elite on that laptop, it bogs down and I lose FPS. I rarely upgrade anything, but when I do, it's good to run games for 3-5 years before I have to return to lowering graphic settings as games and platforms seem to advance.

DX12 seems to have more vibrant colors and shows greater detail. But the game is so fun, I'd play it on all the lowest settings just to get it to run.