NVIDIA has released its GeForce Game Ready 617.42 WHQL driver, adding optimizations for several major October PC releases and updates. The new package targets Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Sim Update 7 and Valor Mortis. It also fixes a persistent Assassin’s Creed Shadows crash affecting players on earlier R615-series drivers.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is one of the driver’s headline additions ahead of its October 16 campaign early access period and October 23 full release. NVIDIA says the game will support DLSS 4.5 Super Resolution across GeForce RTX GPUs, while RTX 40 Series cards gain Frame Generation and RTX 50 Series hardware can use Dynamic Multi Frame Generation with multiplication of up to 6X. NVIDIA Reflex will also be available to reduce system latency, while ray-traced reflections can be enabled on supported hardware. Infinity Ward has continued detailing the game ahead of release, including its renewed DMZ mode and extraction gameplay.
Star Wars: Galactic Racer is already available and receives Game Ready support with the 617.42 release. The racing game launches with DLSS 4.5 Dynamic Multi Frame Generation and Super Resolution, alongside hardware-accelerated ray-traced Lumen lighting and DLSS Ray Reconstruction. The game combines story-driven racing with multiplayer events across several types of repulsorcraft, while its full single-player campaign is also available through Luna for Amazon Prime members.
Capcom’s Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen expansion is another major focus for the driver. The expansion launches October 9 alongside a free update for the base game, adding DLSS 4.5 Dynamic Multi Frame Generation and the latest Super Resolution implementation to its existing NVIDIA feature set. Dark Arisen takes players to Norgan with new dungeon challenges, equipment and character customization options, following the release of Capcom’s main Dark Arisen trailer and new screenshots ahead of launch.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is also being prepared for Sim Update 7, which arrives October 13. NVIDIA says the update upgrades the simulator’s DLSS feature set to DLSS 4.5 and introduces Multi Frame Generation with up to 6X multiplication on compatible RTX 50 Series GPUs. Dynamic Multi Frame Generation can automatically adjust the number of generated frames based on the workload and a user’s target refresh rate, while Super Resolution receives the newer DLSS 4.5 model.
Valor Mortis is included among the titles receiving support from the new driver as well. The action RPG from One More Level is scheduled to launch October 13 with ray tracing and NVIDIA’s DLSS technology suite, including Frame Generation options on supported RTX GPUs. The game will launch at $39.99, while a larger story expansion is planned for 2027 as part of its post-launch roadmap.
Beyond game optimizations, version 617.42 resolves an issue in Assassin’s Creed Shadows that could cause the game to crash to the desktop after extended sessions. NVIDIA had listed the problem as an open issue in earlier drivers after it appeared following the 616.56 release. The 617.42 notes list that Shadows problem as the driver’s fixed gaming bug, with no additional general fixes documented for this release.
NVIDIA’s newest Game Ready package is available through the NVIDIA app and the company’s driver download service. For players planning to jump into Modern Warfare 4, Galactic Racer, Dark Arisen, Valor Mortis or the next Flight Simulator update, 617.42 is primarily a launch-readiness release rather than a broad feature update. The Assassin’s Creed Shadows crash fix also makes it a more relevant upgrade for users affected by that specific regression.
