diff --git a/Code/Sandbox/Editor/CryEdit.cpp b/Code/Sandbox/Editor/CryEdit.cpp
index b9c4f92ae8..e143e4dc66 100644
--- a/Code/Sandbox/Editor/CryEdit.cpp
+++ b/Code/Sandbox/Editor/CryEdit.cpp
@@ -2312,13 +2312,6 @@ int CCryEditApp::IdleProcessing(bool bBackgroundUpdate)
 
     m_bPrevActive = bActive;
 
-    AZStd::chrono::system_clock::time_point now = AZStd::chrono::system_clock::now();
-    static AZStd::chrono::system_clock::time_point lastUpdate = now;
-
-    AZStd::chrono::duration<float> delta = now - lastUpdate;
-
-    lastUpdate = now;
-
     // Don't tick application if we're doing idle processing during an assert.
     const bool isErrorWindowVisible = (gEnv && gEnv->pSystem->IsAssertDialogVisible());
     if (isErrorWindowVisible)
@@ -2330,15 +2323,11 @@ int CCryEditApp::IdleProcessing(bool bBackgroundUpdate)
     }
     else if (bActive || (bBackgroundUpdate && !bIsAppWindow))
     {
-        if (GetIEditor()->IsInGameMode())
-        {
-            // Update Game
-            GetIEditor()->GetGameEngine()->Update();
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            GetIEditor()->GetGameEngine()->Update();
+        // Update Game
+        GetIEditor()->GetGameEngine()->Update();
 
+        if (!GetIEditor()->IsInGameMode())
+        {
             if (m_pEditor)
             {
                 m_pEditor->Update();
@@ -2351,15 +2340,13 @@ int CCryEditApp::IdleProcessing(bool bBackgroundUpdate)
             {
                 pEditor->GetSystem()->DoWorkDuringOcclusionChecks();
             }
+        }
 
-            // Since the rendering is done based on the eNotify_OnIdleUpdate, we should trigger a TickSystem as well.
-            // To ensure that there's a system tick for every render done in Idle
-            AZ::ComponentApplication* componentApplication = nullptr;
-            AZ::ComponentApplicationBus::BroadcastResult(componentApplication, &AZ::ComponentApplicationRequests::GetApplication);
-            if (componentApplication)
-            {
-                componentApplication->TickSystem();
-            }
+        AZ::ComponentApplication* componentApplication = nullptr;
+        AZ::ComponentApplicationBus::BroadcastResult(componentApplication, &AZ::ComponentApplicationRequests::GetApplication);
+        if (componentApplication)
+        {
+            componentApplication->TickSystem();
         }
     }
     else if (GetIEditor()->GetSystem() && GetIEditor()->GetSystem()->GetILog())
diff --git a/Code/Sandbox/Editor/MainWindow.cpp b/Code/Sandbox/Editor/MainWindow.cpp
index d4741eafb8..05a1a027b0 100644
--- a/Code/Sandbox/Editor/MainWindow.cpp
+++ b/Code/Sandbox/Editor/MainWindow.cpp
@@ -489,11 +489,6 @@ void MainWindow::Initialize()
     ActionOverrideRequestBus::Event(
         GetEntityContextId(), &ActionOverrideRequests::SetupActionOverrideHandler, this);
 
-    // This function only happens after we're pretty sure that the engine has successfully started - so now would be a good time to start ticking the message pumps/etc.
-    AzToolsFramework::Ticker* ticker = new AzToolsFramework::Ticker(this);
-    ticker->Start();
-    connect(ticker, &AzToolsFramework::Ticker::Tick, this, &MainWindow::SystemTick);
-
     AzToolsFramework::EditorEventsBus::Broadcast(&AzToolsFramework::EditorEvents::NotifyMainWindowInitialized, this);
 }
 
diff --git a/Gems/Atom/Feature/Common/Code/Source/Mesh/MeshFeatureProcessor.cpp b/Gems/Atom/Feature/Common/Code/Source/Mesh/MeshFeatureProcessor.cpp
index 89d52a8bdd..0321fd6954 100644
--- a/Gems/Atom/Feature/Common/Code/Source/Mesh/MeshFeatureProcessor.cpp
+++ b/Gems/Atom/Feature/Common/Code/Source/Mesh/MeshFeatureProcessor.cpp
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include <RenderCommon.h>
 
 #include <Atom/RHI/CpuProfiler.h>
+#include <Atom/RHI/RHIUtils.h>
 #include <Atom/RHI.Reflect/InputStreamLayoutBuilder.h>
 #include <Atom/Feature/Mesh/MeshFeatureProcessor.h>
 #include <Atom/Feature/ReflectionProbe/ReflectionProbeFeatureProcessor.h>
@@ -550,7 +551,10 @@ namespace AZ
             }
             else
             {
-                AZ_Error("MeshDataInstance::OnAssetReady", false, "Failed to create model instance for '%s'", asset.GetHint().c_str());
+                //when running with null renderer, the RPI::Model::FindOrCreate(...) is expected to return nullptr, so suppress this error.
+                AZ_Error(
+                    "MeshDataInstance::OnAssetReady", RHI::IsNullRenderer(), "Failed to create model instance for '%s'",
+                    asset.GetHint().c_str());
             }
         }