The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is considered one of the best Action-Adventure titles ever published and the third game in the fantasy series written by Andrzej Sapkowski.
Being the complex project it is, The Witcher 3 can sometimes surprise users with unexpected bugs, errors, and crashes, none of which takes away from the many great things the game has to offer, yet it is still a frustrating thing to experience.
In this guide, we’ll talk about the Witcher 3 Hook matches Count Error that many users in the community seem to report.
If you’ve recently dealt with or are still dealing with this problem, read on to learn how to fix it.
Let’s take a look.
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The Problem Explained
The Hook Matches Count Check Error in Witcher 3 is most often caused by a faulty, broken mod that can no longer function with your currently installed game version.
Since The Witcher 3 is a game with immense modding potential, it’s not uncommon for users to have at least a few installed so they can improve or change the overall gameplay feel and experience.
Although there’s nothing wrong with that, one of the risks of installing mods is actually breaking the game, which results in you being unable to launch it and encountering errors such as the Hook Matches Count Error.
Here’s what you should do when this happens.
Fix 1: Delete The Console Command Mod
If you have a mod that enables the use of a console command in The Witcher 3, it’s most likely what’s causing the Matches Count Check Error. According to the Witcher community members on Reddit, uninstalling the debug console mod will solve the problem and allow the game to launch normally again.
When users first started complaining about this problem, the reason behind it was that the mod was not updated to work with the latest version of the game, but as soon as the developer updated it, users could download the latest version and then launch the game without further issues.
However, every time there’s a new update to the game, the mod may become problematic until it’s updated again, in which case, we strongly suggest uninstalling it so that you can continue playing the game.
After removing the console command mod, users were able to launch the game without the matches count check error.
Fix 2: Attempt Finding The Broken Game Mod
If you don’t have the console command mod installed yet still experience this error, the problem could be very similar, just caused by a different mod.
Usually, mods stop working when there’s a new game update, or they can be “broken” right off the bat.
This is why we almost always recommend downloading mods from reputable creators that are proven to be safe and working. Nexusmods is a good place to start.
To find what mod is causing the problem, you’ll need to disable them one by one until you find that you can finally launch the game without encountering the error. If you have way too many mods installed, maybe disabling them all at once could be the fastest approach to solving this problem, as suggested by this user in a Reddit thread covering this topic.
Some users also reported that ignoring the error message allowed them to launch the game even with the mods installed, but they weren’t sure if this caused any further issues along the way, meaning it’s not the safest method.
If you find which mod was causing the problem, you can re-enable the rest of the mods to continue playing your own personalized way without experiencing any difficulties launching the game.
Fix 3: Rename The “dsound.dll” Game File
Thanks to the active Witcher 3 community, this “trick” showed up in various threads across multiple forums where users were looking for answers for the Hook Matches Count Check Error, and it’s very easy to do, yet it is a proven fix for the problem.
The “secret” is to find a file called “dsound.dll” and either change its name to something else or remove it from the directory. We recommend renaming it, as doing so still solves the problem without losing the file in case you need it again in the future.
Here’s what you should do:
- Open the Steam client on your PC and sign in to your account.
- In your Steam game library, find The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and right-click on it, then choose Properties.
- Click on Local Files and then Browse, which will open the folder where your game is installed.
- From there, open the bin folder and then the folder named “x64“.
- Find the file named dsound.dll and rename it to something else. It can be “dsound2.dll.
- Exit the Windows Explorer tabs and launch the game through Steam. It should now start properly.
If text-based instructions aren’t clear enough for you, here’s a short and helpful video that covers the entire process from start to finish.
This fix helped many users, and it should work for you as well. Please note that sometimes, especially after new updates or if you use the “Verify Integrity Of Game Cache” command on Steam, the “dsound.dll” file can switch back to its original name and cause the problem once more.
If you notice the same error again, open the game folder and check if it’s renamed.
Fix 4: Do A Fresh Reinstall Of Witcher 3
If you’ve spent a lot of time tinkering with the Witcher 3 game files, installing and removing mods, modifying some of the core files, and such, yet the game still doesn’t work, we recommend doing a fresh reinstall.
This will allow you to “start over” with a healthy game file foundation and with more control over which files could be missing and making the game crash or fail to start.
Conclusion
With that said, you now know what measures to take when dealing with the Witcher 3 Hook Matches Count Check error, and hopefully, the methods listed in the guide above will help you overcome it with ease.
For any future issues or help that you might require with this particular game, we recommend taking a look at the official Witcher 3: Wild Hunt subreddit, as well as the Steam community discussion board, where members are often very helpful to anyone in need.
