Steam overlay causes Hitman World of Assassination to crash to desktop silently (Win11 64 Home)

[justinstyles]

I am posting here in Steam discussions rather than Hitman discussions because...
1. no crash on other games (play 3 others daily) within Steam when using Steam overlay; and
2. no crash if Steam overlay is not used.

Since 11 and 13 September 2024 updates to Steam, Steam overlay activation causes "Hitman World of Assassination" to crash silently to desktop.
I can duplicate the problem 100%:
1. Run Steam.
2. Start Hitman.
3. When game is running (past the "ENTER" screen to view menu of game modes, etc.), open Steam overlay.

Game can crash as soon as 2 seconds or up to ~20 seconds after using Steam overlay.

I have used "Delete Web Browser Data" from within Steam Settings, disabled "Restore my previous browser tabs when starting a game", and even removed Clock from Toolbar (since clock was listed as changed in patch notes).

Hope for advice on solution.
Best regards.

[justinstyles]

I have tested several conditions applicable to me.
As a baseline:
1. Win11 PC starts from a complete, powered down state (not suspend nor hibernate) every day.
2. I use Ethernet (no Wi-Fi)
3. Only one game client running at a time (so no Ubisoft, EGS, etc. running in system tray) if running a Steam game (and no Steam if running an EGS game). I suppose I'm fortunate that I don't have any clients that open another. My recent Ubisoft games were purchased on Ubisoft so I can't choose to run them via Steam, and my old Ubisoft games (e.g., original, 2007 "Assassin's Creed") connect to Ubisoft, but only run on Steam).
4. Do not use Alt-Tab; then again, that's why I learned to use Steam Overlay.
5. Not running "unnecessary" apps (e.g., no browser, Discord, etc.)

When this problem first began, I uninstalled "Simple Mod Framework" (for Hitman); I had both previously installed mods already disabled, but no way to ensure there wasn't something interfering except to uninstall. Still crash whenever Steam Overlay used in Hitman. (allow me to emphasize, this Steam Overlay problem for me only occurs in Hitman; the 3 other games I play daily (until recently when I've been ill and played nearly zero time). 1 game has no mods and is a "online only" game. 1 game uses Steam Workshop for mods and is an "online only" game. 1 game uses a kind of mod organization system, but is nor ever was intended to function as a Simple Mod Framework-style mod system.

Disabled GeForce Experience and its overlay; still crash when using Steam Overlay with Hitman. Re-enabled, but would disable each time a major Steam client update (no beta; only the public versions) was released to test the Hitman / Steam Overlay problem... crashes regardless of GeForce Experience state. I like the snapshot video automatically taken when I kill an Elusive Target; that's the only reason I want it. None of the other games do anything with GeForce.

Just to be thorough, I uninstalled my mouse software (my wired keyboard has no software of any kind), which is from a 2011 wired mouse; of course, this step removed my mouse shortcuts (no macros) such as "I" for inventory so made gameplay a bit hectic, but it did not help the Hitman / Steam Overlay problem so I've reinstalled it.

If I didn't mind a large scale project, I suppose I could wipe my storage entirely, install Linux then Steam and finally Hitman to test OS versus Steam + Hitman, but I admit I do not want to put such effort for a single game, and also risk sabotaging other games I play which may run imperfectly on Linux.
(and no, I'm not interested reverting to a dual-boot state; I did so some years ago,but as I stated to play more games, it had more downsides than neutral or positive)

Best regards.

[The Right D]

It happens to me also. I'm on Windows 10 with exclusive full screen. It crashes everytime i press shift+tab for the steam overlay.

[Christina]

This thread was quite old before the recent post, so we're locking it to prevent confusion.