Known Issues and Patch History

Halloween: The Game FPS and Performance

Neither published patch contains a performance fix, so this page separates what the developer has stated from the settings advice players are trading.

  • Frame rate
  • Upscaling
  • PC settings
On this page

DIRECT ANSWER

No published performance fix, and no stated frame-rate target

Read the two patch notes and the omission is the finding: Early Access Hotfix #1 and Patch 1.0.1 both list crash fixes, and neither contains a single performance, frame-rate or upscaling entry. The developer has published no target frame rate for any hardware and no optimisation note. That means low frame rates on capable PCs are currently unacknowledged rather than fixed, and every settings recommendation circulating for this game is a player’s result rather than a developer instruction.
Performance entries in patchesNone
Stated frame-rate targetNot published
Crash fixes listedBoth patches
Settings advice statusCommunity, unverified

Establish which problem you have first

Three complaints get filed under performance and they do not share a fix. A low but steady frame rate is a rendering-cost problem, and settings are the lever. Stutter — a frame rate that is acceptable on average but hitches — usually is not solved by lowering the same settings, because the cost is spiky rather than constant. A freeze or a drop to desktop is not a performance problem at all, and belongs with the crash checks.

Say which of the three you have before applying advice aimed at another. Most of the settings guidance for this game addresses only the first.

  • Low and steady — rendering cost; settings and upscaling are the lever
  • Stutter and hitching — spiky cost; lowering a preset often changes little
  • Freeze or exit to desktop — a crash, not a frame-rate problem

What players report about upscaling and frame generation

The recurring one is that upscaling and frame-generation selections do not persist. Players describe setting DLSS or FSR, pressing Apply, and finding the choice reverted; one participant describes watching the Steam performance overlay show the frame-generation indicator briefly before it drops back, which they read as the setting failing to hold rather than failing to exist. A suggested alternative is to leave frame generation to the graphics driver instead of the in-game option.

Treat the driver suggestion as a workaround with a cost, not an upgrade. Driver-level frame generation is a different implementation from the in-game one, it interacts with the frame rate you already have, and it is not what the developer shipped. If you try it, change one thing at a time so you can tell what actually moved.

The one thing worth verifying yourself

Because the reported fault is a setting reverting rather than a setting underperforming, the useful check is whether the setting held — not whether the frame rate improved. Set the option, leave the menu, return to it, and confirm it still reads as you left it. Then confirm during a match rather than in the menu, since the reports describe the value dropping after load.

An on-screen overlay makes that visible without guessing. If the option does not survive a return to the menu, no amount of further tuning underneath it is meaningful, and the reversion itself is the thing to report.

Where the settings file lives has not been published

A recurring request in the same discussions is the location of the configuration file, so that settings can be edited or reset outside the game. That question was asked and went unanswered in the thread.

Judge the advice you find elsewhere by what it discloses

This game launched into a large volume of settings guides, and their quality varies more than their confidence does. A recommendation is worth more when it names the build it was tested on, the hardware it ran on, and the measurement rather than a feeling. It is worth less when it prescribes registry edits, driver-level overrides and launch parameters together, because a stack of simultaneous changes cannot tell you which one mattered — and some of them persist after you stop playing.

The safest sequence is the boring one: change one setting, confirm it held, then judge it in a real match rather than in a menu or a hub.

Frequently asked questions

Has the developer acknowledged performance problems?

Not in the published notes. Both patches list crash fixes, and neither contains a performance, frame-rate or upscaling entry. That is an absence in the record, not proof the reports are wrong.

Will meeting the system requirements give a good frame rate?

No published requirement states a frame rate or a preset it applies to. A minimum specification describes what runs the game, not what runs it smoothly.

Should I use driver frame generation instead of the in-game option?

Players suggest it as a workaround for the in-game setting not holding. It is a different implementation with its own trade-offs, and it is unverified here, so try it as an experiment rather than a recommended configuration.

Next step

Halloween: The Game Crashing

If the game stops rather than stutters, the crash checks are the ones that apply.

Sources & references