Black Ops Cold War Xbox Series X crashing: How to fix it

Black Ops Cold War hasn’t quite gotten off to the start Activision and developer, Treyarch, would have probably hoped for. The game, specifically the Xbox Series X version, is crashing frequently in multiplayer and Warzone. Additionally, some of the crashes are so bad that it’s actually crashing the Series X entirely, effectively hard resetting the console. Here’s how to fix it.

What’s happening?

Players are noting that ever since the latest Black Ops Cold War update a few days back, the game is suffering from severe performance issues.

This author experienced this extensively over a few days: the crashes and issues varied, from the game crashing back to the Series X UI whenever I tried to load leaderboards, to my console resetting completely whenever large explosions and multiple players were on screen at once.

Additionally, the game would slow down and often “skip” completely whenever an enemy player suddenly appears on screen. As an example, if I’m sprinting around a corner and an enemy appears, the game will freeze for a split second, but then resume just as I’ve been killed. This makes the game unplayable in its current state.

Is Treyarch aware of the Black Ops Cold War Series X crashes?

FoxhoundFPS on Reddit, a representative from Treyarch, has responded to ongoing claims from gamers about the crashes.

“Generally speaking, we’re investigating all crashes and across the game. We outline to contact our Player Support so that you can share details with them and they collate the feedback,” they said.

“My immediate recommendations are to make sure that you’re using the correct version for your platform. Players have also shared that disabling Ray Tracing on XSX has helped. LMK if it does.”

How to fix Black Ops Cold War Series X crashes

There are a few things you can do to improve performance of Black Ops Cold War on Series X.

1. Make sure you’re playing the Series X/S version of the game

There’s been some confusion surrounding the multiple versions of the game. The Series X version even includes the Xbox One version, and so the Series X/S may be crashing on the back of not knowing which version to play or how to process it, so best to make sure you’re playing the correct version.

To do this, on your Series X:

• Step 1: Go to “My Games and Apps”
• Step 2: Navigate over to and click “Filter” (it looks like a martini glass, and the word “Filter” will appear when you land on the button)
• Step 3: Select “Optimised for Xbox Series X|S games”

From there, if you see Black Ops Cold War with a X|S logo on it, then you’re playing the correct version. If Black Ops Cold War doesn’t appear, it means you’re playing the Xbox One version of the game and may need to purchase the upgraded version, or update (although you wouldn’t have been able to play online if it was merely an update you were requiring).

2. Turn off Ray Tracing

Ever since I turned off Ray Tracing, Black Ops Cold War has worked perfectly on my Series X. This was after days of it being essentially unplayable and crashed my Series X console multiple times a day.

• Step 1: Boot up Black Ops Cold War
• Step 2: When you reach the title card, go to “Settings” (the hamburger button)
• Step 3: In Settings, go to “Graphics” and then navigate down to “Ray Tracing” and then move the marker to “Disabled”

Navigate back to save the settings, then reboot the game. Go back into Settings to ensure Ray Tracing is disabled, and then start playing again. Hopefully that fixes performance issues for you. It has for me and I haven’t had any issues since disabling Ray Tracing.

Still experiencing issues? Sound off in the comments below and we’ll try to help!