MSI Claw A8 - Massive shadow map corruption / black artifacts in The Witcher 3 (DX12) REMASTER

[gastro696]

Model: MSI Claw A8 (Ryzen Z2 Extreme / Radeon 890M)
Driver version: 26.10.07.05 WHQL (official from MSI site)
Game: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt REMASTEr (DirectX 12)
Description: Severe shadow map corruption and black foliage/geometry flickering during gameplay (see attached video). The issue is resolved on desktop AMD systems with driver branch 26.9.2, but the official MSI package is outdated and lacks the required shader/render fix. Please provide an updated OEM graphics driver.

 

[Edric]

As a user, I also hope MSI releases a driver fix. However, it currently appears that the new official AMD driver might not be suitable for handheld gaming devices; AMD’s official statement notes that "AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition does not include support for handheld gaming devices. Users should check with the OEM for device-specific drivers." I also checked the official system requirements for *The Witcher 3*—specifically the GPU requirements (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 or AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB)—though I’m not sure if that is relevant to the issue at hand. Of course, it would be ideal if a new driver version from MSI could resolve the problem.

 

[lanie.emon]

Hi. Wondering if rollback driver would work in this particular case

 

[gastro696]

Unfortunately, rolling back the driver does not help in this case. I already thoroughly tested rolling back to older available driver versions (including clean installations with DDU and clearing the DirectX shader cache), and the shadow corruption under DX12 remains completely identical.

The issue is present across all previous driver revisions for the Claw A8, so an older driver won't fix it. Only a future updated driver package from MSI/AMD containing the updated shader compiler fix will resolve it.

 

[gastro696]

Problem solved on MSI Claw A8 by manually installing Lenovo Legion Go 2 AMD drivers. MSI hardware works great, but your OEM software support is completely outclassed by the competition.”

 

[gastro696]

[FIX / WORKAROUND] How to fix The Witcher 3 DX12 black shadows on MSI Claw A8 (Z2 Extreme)

The root cause of black grass, black models, and massive shadow corruption in The Witcher 3 Remaster (DX12) is MSI's outdated OEM driver. Lenovo already fixed this on the Legion Go 2 (same AMD RDNA 3.5 architecture).

IMPORTANT: Running Lenovo’s .exe installer directly WILL NOT WORK on the Claw A8 (it will silently fail or skip updating due to MSI hardware IDs).
The ONLY way to make it work is a forced manual installation via Windows Device Manager.

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Download the driver:
Download the official "AMD VGA Driver for Windows 11 (64-bit)" from Lenovo’s Legion Go (8ASP2 / 8AHP2) support page (version AMD_32.0.23033.1002 or newer).

2. Unpack the files:
Run the Lenovo .exe installer just to unpack the archive (usually extracts to C:\DRIVERS\VGA or C:\Drivers\), or extract the .exe directly to your Desktop using 7-Zip / WinRAR. Once extracted, CANCEL/EXIT the setup wizard if it pops up.

3. Force install via Device Manager:
- Right-click Start and open "Device Manager".
- Expand "Display adapters".
- Right-click your AMD graphics device and select "Update driver".
- Click "Browse my computer for drivers".
- Click "Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer".
- Click the "Have Disk..." button.
- Click "Browse...", navigate to the extracted folder containing the .inf files (e.g. inside Packages\Drivers\Display\WT6A_INF), select the .inf file, and click Open -> OK.
- Select your AMD graphics model from the list and hit "Next".
- If Windows shows a compatibility warning, click "Install anyway / Yes".

4. Reboot & Verify:
- Your screen will blink black for a few seconds during the driver swap.
- Restart your MSI Claw A8.
- Clear the DirectX cache: Win + R -> %localappdata%\AMD\DxCache -> delete files.
- Launch The Witcher 3 DX12.

Result:
All shadow corruption, black artifacts, and texture glitches are completely gone. Runs at a rock-solid 60–70 FPS (1200p, FSR / Frame Gen enabled).

 

[hybnerr]

It works, but be aware that MSI reports outdated drivers and wants an update.

 

[gastro696]

[UPDATE / OFFICIAL STATUS] MSI confirmed The Witcher 3 DX12 shadow bug on Claw A8 (Z2 Extreme)

Just sharing an official update regarding the severe DirectX 12 shadow corruption and black texture issues in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on the MSI Claw A8:

MSI Technical Support has officially reproduced the bug on their internal test device in their lab.They confirmed that the abnormal shadow/geometry rendering and black artifacts under DX12 are present on the current MSI graphics driver.

Key takeaways from support:
- The issue is fully acknowledged by MSI as a software/driver defect, not individual hardware failure
- All test results and logs have been escalated directly to their internal engineering team for analysis
- They advised against wasting time on BIOS/EC resets or generic troubleshooting steps, as the root cause is being handled internally
- The ticket remains open while their engineering team prepares a solution / driver update
If you are dealing with this bug on your Claw A8, sit tight — a proper fix is currently in the works by MSi

 

[lanie.emon]

[UPDATE / OFFICIAL STATUS] MSI confirmed The Witcher 3 DX12 shadow bug on Claw A8 (Z2 Extreme)

Just sharing an official update regarding the severe DirectX 12 shadow corruption and black texture issues in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on the MSI Claw A8:

MSI Technical Support has officially reproduced the bug on their internal test device in their lab.They confirmed that the abnormal shadow/geometry rendering and black artifacts under DX12 are present on the current MSI graphics driver.

Key takeaways from support:
- The issue is fully acknowledged by MSI as a software/driver defect, not individual hardware failure
- All test results and logs have been escalated directly to their internal engineering team for analysis
- They advised against wasting time on BIOS/EC resets or generic troubleshooting steps, as the root cause is being handled internally
- The ticket remains open while their engineering team prepares a solution / driver update
If you are dealing with this bug on your Claw A8, sit tight — a proper fix is currently in the works by MSi

Thank you for the update, much appreciated.

 

[Johnjosepholsson]

[UPDATE / OFFICIAL STATUS] MSI confirmed The Witcher 3 DX12 shadow bug on Claw A8 (Z2 Extreme)

Just sharing an official update regarding the severe DirectX 12 shadow corruption and black texture issues in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on the MSI Claw A8:

MSI Technical Support has officially reproduced the bug on their internal test device in their lab.They confirmed that the abnormal shadow/geometry rendering and black artifacts under DX12 are present on the current MSI graphics driver.

Key takeaways from support:
- The issue is fully acknowledged by MSI as a software/driver defect, not individual hardware failure
- All test results and logs have been escalated directly to their internal engineering team for analysis
- They advised against wasting time on BIOS/EC resets or generic troubleshooting steps, as the root cause is being handled internally
- The ticket remains open while their engineering team prepares a solution / driver update
If you are dealing with this bug on your Claw A8, sit tight — a proper fix is currently in the works by MSi

Hi is there an update on this. Because I'm waiting day in day out for this to be fixed. I'm dying to play the game but it's unplayable at the moment. How is the update rolled out, is it just an update on msi centre? Any news please this bucks majorly for players. Just brought my msi claw a8 for this and can't even play it. Thanks.

 

[gastro696]

Just to clarify — I don't work for MSI, I'm just a regular user who opened a support ticket with them about this bug.

They confirmed to me that they managed to reproduce the issue and escalated it to their internal team for a fix, but I don't have any insider info or an ETA yet. Once the driver/fix is ready, it will likely be available via MSI Center or their official support page. If they update my ticket with anything new, I'll post it here

 

[kyriakidis]

Hi is there an update on this. Because I'm waiting day in day out for this to be fixed. I'm dying to play the game but it's unplayable at the moment. How is the update rolled out, is it just an update on msi centre? Any news please this bucks majorly for players. Just brought my msi claw a8 for this and can't even play it. Thanks.

Advise turn to the dark side and install cachyos or bazzite , from what I see updates are taking ages to be releashed.

 

[gastro696]

I am considering it.