Since the latest patch, while trying to load any save on DX11 the game crashes completely, and because playing in the normal client is most of the time unplayable in terms of fps I`d love to get that fixed somehow so I could play this lovely game.

Same issue here. Instant crash when loading a save in DX11 client. DX12 still runs much worse than DX11.
While I could probably tune DX12 to acchieve similar fps, the resulting loss in graphical fidelity is not worth it for me.
Went back to 4.01+hotfix for now, which runs at near constant 60 fps at high-ish settings.

Btw, my system:
AMD R5 5600
AMD RX 480 8GB
16 GB Ram
Win10

Same here, instantly crashing upon loading, DX12 version gives me about 30 less FPS with the same settings.

Intel i5-8400
AMD RX 580 8GB
16GB RAM
Windows 10

Same for me, I know this is a "next-gen game" but there's a lot of "old-gen" users too, so, CD Projekt Red, if you are going to update the game, then don't forget DX11, improve the performance here too.

Guys are you tried to remove all user.settings ini files from <ur documents>/The Witcher 3 Folder? It's recommended to do it always after game patch or after removed mods

if your gpu supports vulkan install DXVK and put d3d11.dll and dxgi.dll in the same location as the game exe it will force the game to use vulkan instead of directx11 this is the only way for now until this gets fixed

Confirmed, I have a similar situation. Played about 180 hours (first full play through) on the nextgen update. Now passing the "Blood and Wine" and after the patch to 4.02 can not only load a save, but even a new game to start - lunge while loading the location.

That helped, thank you!

Dear lord why are we forced to be their testers for free?
I just want to play the game I payed for, the game that was perfectly fine on 4.01 and now is just a glorified menu with two buttons that send you to the desktop. Thank you CD Projekt, thank you.

As far as I know you can always rollback to a previous version if a new patch breaks your game.

Not in Steam.

It's a Steam issue, then. The forced update, I mean.
Luckily it didn't break my game, and if I'm not mistaken 4.02 alleviated a bit my CPU bottleneck problem. It's a bit less hard on the CPU and packs more on the GPU... which still could take more. But hey, my config is surely not optimal (Pentium G4560 with a GTX 1060 6GB).
Anyway, you should try to get help in the Steam forums or CDPR's official forum as well. They watch the latter more frequently, I'm sure. Hopefully a hotfix is incoming for you.

Lovely how the entire company is disregarding this massive issue. Many of us can not play the game we paid for. It is honestly disgusting how poorly CDpred is handling this issue. Can we have for our money's sake a proper solution to the issues we are facing?

Please.

Everyone who having problems with game crashing (nvm if it's DX11 or DX12) should fist do:
1) delete all "dx12user.settings" and "user.settings" file in ur "<documents>/The Witcher 3" Folder. (When you start the game this files will be automaticly restored to default config, you just need to configure again ur in game gameplay, graphic, video etc. settings)
2) go to "<ur game directory>/bin/" folder and delete folders: "x64_dx12" and "x64" and "config" (if u having mods ini files there, then first do backup of thoes) and run game werify/repair in GOG/Steam client, to downloads thoes files again.
3) delete "Mods" folder if you have it in "<ur game direcotry>/" (first do copy of ur mods if you have ones)
4) update ur GPU drivers and Game update to newest version.
5) go to "<ur game directory>/bin/x64" (for dx11) or "... bin/x64_dx12/" and open properties of ur file: "witcher3.exe", go to tab "compatibility" and mark "run this program as an administrator" and also "disable fulscreen optimizations". Remember to first run game witchout any mods installed!
6) disable all in game overlay, on Steam settings, GOG settings, on Geforce Experiences Settings or AMD Adrenaline.
7) if you playing on laptop, then change ur system power plan to "Performance" and in your dedicated GPU Control Panel change 3D program settings for your game exe and then select preferred graphic processor for this program/game to "High performance <ur GPU> processor"
8) if still DX11 mode crashing and if ur GPU supports Vulkan technology, then download DXVK dll:
- download newest "dxvk-...tar.gz" from: https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk/releases
- unpack this file and from "x64" folder copy: "d3d11.dll" and "dxgi.dll" in to the same location where is the game .exe (This will force the game to use vulkan instead of the DX11)
9) for AMD RX 7900 XT/X series GPU try to change game AA from FSR to TAAU. (Yea i know u will get smaller performance, but for now it maybe only available solution, untill AMD or CDPR fix it in new driver/game patch, that lost performance in RT you can restore by installing my mod: All-In-One RT Tweaks)
10) if you ur PC have lower then 32GB RAM, then Increese system virtual memory size:
Click Start > All Programs > Control Panel > System > Advanced > Performance > Settings > Advanced > Virtual Memory. Click Change. In Customize size set "Initial Size" to 16384 (MB) and "Maximum Size" to 49152 (MB) (or 65536 MB max)
11) If ur game crashing at same specific place or quest cutsceen then change to other DX mode (DX11 or DX12) and complite this quest or do more progress and then save and return back to previous DX mode
12) for DX12 mode and If your GPU dosn't support DLSS or you don't using it, then delete "sl.dlss_g.dll" and "sl.dlss.dll" from <ur game directory>\bin\x64_dx12" folder.
Even if you don't use DLSS this dll files may be cause randomly crashes
(To be know, that after deleting this files you cannot use DLSS AA or DLSS 3 Frame Gen. on RTX GPU anymore untill you restore this dll file)
13) Smillar tip like in ponit 12, but instead removing those files you can replace them using DLSS to FSR 2.1.2 replecment mod, it's offer much better AA quality and sometimes even higher performance, it's great option for AMD GPU or NVidia GTX (but for those GPU that doesn't support RT still DX11 + TAAU is even better option):
https://steamcommunity.com/app/292030/discussions/0/3819655463294863618/
14) Uninstall game, manualy go to <game localization folder> and delete this whole folder or any remaining files there, go to <ur documents>/The WItcher 3/ folder and delete all files except gamesave and screenshot folders. Download and install game again

I managed to solve the problem:
You need to revert to 4.00 version on steam (if you are on gog you can do that easily)
If you are on steam you need to open the console (i asume everyone knows how) and type download_depot 292030 292042 8737622765292089091 this will download witcher3.exe that you need to put in your bin x64 files (replace) than you start the game and it will be version 4.00 and everything will work. (It wont update automaticly when you lunch on steam so you dont have to worry
If the game is crashing on start after the first run with the 4.00 exe you have to delete a file before running the game every time. The file in question is called x64.final.redscripts located at ...\The Witcher 3\content\content0\
You have to delete this file everytime you want to launch the game.