One of the biggest releases of 2023, Diablo 4, is finally here, and Diablo fans from all over the world are rejoicing at the moment. I mean, can you blame them? Diablo 3 came out 11 years ago.
Now, Diablo games have always been pretty optimized. Yes, it is not the lightest game in the world when it comes to requirements. But I remember it running quite well on low-end GPUs as well. But the release of Diablo 4 has changed the situation a bit. You see, tough the full release has taken place, the game is at a very early stage at the moment. So bugs and technical errors are going to be common for a while.
It looks like Diablo 4 won’t launch for some PC users, and players who are somehow managing to launch it are experiencing crashing at startup. This is exclusively happening to Battle.net users, as I haven’t seen any console player report something similar yet. The thing is, launch issues and crashing issues could get triggered by random stuff on your PC, and it is very hard to find the reason, as the reasons behind crashes vary from user to user. Anyway, you have no other choice but to try fixing the issue using the trusty Trial and Error Method. Let’s get to fixing.
Fix Diablo 4 Won’t Launch and Crashing at Startup
Here are the methods you can follow if Diablo 4 won’t launch or is crashing for you:
Make sure that your PC is capable enough
Now, Diablo 4 might look like a “light” game, but in fact, the System Requirements for Diablo 4 that Blizzard has posted, tell a completely different story. Check them out:
Medium (Recommended Requirements)
- Processor: Intel® Core i5-4670K or AMD™ R3-1300X
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 970 or AMD Radeon™ RX 470
- DirectX®: Version 12
- Storage: SSD with 90 GB available space
- Internet: Broadband Connection
High
- Processor: Intel® Core i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen™ 2700X
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce® RTX 2060 or AMD Radeon™ RX 5700 XT
- DirectX®: Version 12
- Storage: SSD with 90 GB available space
- Internet: Broadband Connection
Now, you would think that the “High” specifications are there to enable you to play the game at 1440p or something. But that is not the case. They are just for 1080p @ 60 FPS. This should give you an idea.
Make sure you have Windows 10 at least
Before you move any further in this guide, I would like you to make sure that you are using Windows 10. If you are not, then there is no point in reading this guide any further.
If you are someone who is still stuck at Win 7 or 8.1, unfortunately, Diablo 4 won’t launch on Windows 7 or 8.1. It runs only on Windows 10 and, that too, on 64-bit version 1909 or better. The Battle.net page of Diablo 4 has specifically mentioned this. If you don’t know how to check your Windows build, then all you have to do is:
- Type “winver” on your Windows Search Bar
- Click on the first application that shows up on top
- Your build details will pop up in a small window.
Uninstall Diablo 4 beta
If you had taken part in the Diablo 4 betas, then make sure that you uninstall them before downloading Diablo 4.
Just open the Diablo 4 page on your Battle.net app. Click on the drop-down button under “Game Version” and see if Diablo IV – Beta is showing up or not. Uninstall it if you haven’t already.
Download the latest Diablo 4 driver from Nvidia
Now, a lot of times, crashes or launch issues actually get triggered by incompatible drivers. That is why these GPU companies tend to release drivers for every AAA title. And there is one available for Diablo 4 as well.
Nvidia has already released a Game Ready Driver for Diablo 4. The version is 535.98 WHQL. Check out the release notes:
This new Game Ready Driver provides the best gaming experience for the latest new games featuring DLSS 3 technology including Diablo IV. Additionally, this Game Ready Driver supports the launch of titles supporting NVIDIA DLSS 2 technology including System Shock.
You can download the driver by visiting this link. Or, you can download and install the driver directly via the GeForce Experience app.
Download the latest AMD driver for Diablo 4
AMD has also released a driver for Diablo 4. It is called Adrenalin 23.5.2. You can download it via AMD Auto-Detect, or you can visit this link.
Repair Diablo 4 with the Scan and Repair feature of Battle.net
Even after downloading the appropriate drivers, if Diablo 4 is still not launching or is crashing at startup for you, then there is a huge chance that a file might have gone corrupted. In that case, you need to scan for corrupted files and repair them. To do that:
- Launch Battle.net.
- Go to your games library and select Diablo 4.
- Click on the ‘Setting’ icon beside the ‘Play’ button
- Select ‘Scan and Repair’
- Now, wait for Battle.net to scan the installation files. If it finds that any file is corrupted, then it will repair it. And if it finds that a file is missing, it will redownload it.
Launch Diablo 4 directly via the exe file
Try running the executable file or .exe file of Diablo 4 as admin. Just head over to the folder where you have installed Diablo 4
Right-click on diablo4.exe and select Properties. Now click on the Compatibility tab and check the box beside “Run this program as an administrator”. Start the game directly by double-clicking on the .exe file, instead of launching it via Battle.net.
A Selective Startup can help you detect the reason behind the crashing
Third-party applications running in the background may interfere with Diablo 4. A Selective Startup can also help diagnose whether a background application is resulting in your issue. This can be performed by:
- Type msconfig into the search box.
- Click on System Configuration from the results.
- Tick Selective Startup under the General tab.
- Untick Load startup items and click OK.
- Restart the computer.
- Run Diablo 4.
If the issue no longer persists after having performed the Selective Startup, you will need to re-enable each of your usual background applications one-by-one until the error reoccurs to determine which is interfering with Diablo 4.
Diablo 4 might be getting blocked by your Anti-virus
Anti-Virus software might occasionally prevent Blizzard software from running, installing, or patching correctly. To prevent this from happening, it is better to regularly update your security software and configure your Security software’s Exception List to allow Blizzard applications to run. You might need to disable the Real-Time Scanning function or Real-Time Protection function of your Anti-virus to play. If you do not want to completely disable the software, then you will have to add the .exe of Diablo 4 to the Exceptions list of your AV Software.
Also, you need to make sure that you have allowed diablo4.exe on Windows Firewall.
Some Razer files might actually cause Diablo 4 to crash
If you didn’t know, a lot of Razer users have had issues with Blizzard games in the past. And that is due to the fact that Razer forces you to use their Software as soon as you plug in a Razer peripheral on your PC.
Also, Razer peripherals have the ability to sync with a lot of Blizzard games automatically. And this has caused a ton of crashing issues in the past. Here are the files that normally interfere with the game:
- C:\Windows\System32\RzChromaSDK64.dll
- C:\Windows\SysWOW64\RzChromaSDK.dll
- C:\Windows\SysWOW64\RzAPIChromaSDK.dll
What is needed is to first remove Razer and then search for files that are left behind, so you can then manually delete them. Generally, after doing this, you can then reinstall Razer and continue without a problem, as the root cause of this has been addressed by Razer already.
The steps to take are to remove all things relating to Razer Synapse by uninstalling it from Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall Program. Then make sure that the following files are no longer on the computer. If they still exist, and you are unable to delete them manually, contact Razer for help.
If you don’t see the files in the above areas, use file explorer and search your C: for anything “chroma.” You should find one or all of the above files but in a different folder on the system, and you can delete the files to resolve this problem.
Make sure you have all the prerequisites before launching Diablo 4
If you are getting errors like “vcruntime140_1.dll missing” or “MSVCP140.dll was not found”. Then please try downloading and installing the latest version of Visual Studio, as there’s a chance it hasn’t been installed correctly.
- Download the latest version of Visual Studio from the following link: Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x64).
- Once you have downloaded the file, right-click on vc_redist.x86.exe and select “Run as administrator.”
- Click on the Install or the Repair button.
- Restart the computer if requested.
After trying all these methods, if Diablo 4 is still not starting for you or is immediately crashing at launch, then you have no other choice but to redownload or reinstall the entire game on a different drive.
If the problem persists, you can contact Blizzard Support and send them a ticket. I will be on my toes for the next few days, looking for guaranteed fixes. And as soon as I find something, I will immediately update this article. If you want, you can bookmark this page.
If you think this guide has helped you, let us know in the comment section below. And for more Diablo 4 guides, keep an eye on Frondtech. We will be covering every single technical issue and bug of the game. Good luck!
That’s all, folks!
Shoaib, 30, is a simple guy who loves to play video games, and enjoys new cuisines sporadically. He has been gaming since he was 7 years old, and with an experience of 22 years, under his belt, there is not a single AAA game in this world, that he hasn’t played. Despite being a MBA Graduate he decided to follow his passion. And because of his love for gaming, Frondtech came into existence.