Horizon Zero Dawn PC crashing at startup or won’t launch fix – The PC release of Horizon Zero Dawn has to be one of the most anticipated events in the world of gaming in 2020. Now that the game has finally launched, PC gamers all over the world are rejoicing.
Performance issue are very common in AAA games these days. Especially in the ones that are ported from console to the PC platform. Death Stranding and Detroit Become Human has their fair share of problems. Same is the case with Horizon Zero Dawn. Some players are reporting that the game is constantly crashing on the forums. While for some the Horizon Zero Dawn won’t even launch. While we wait for the developers to release a patch here are few steps that you can try to fix the issues.
Horizon Zero Dawn PC – Crashing at startup – Game won’t launch – How to fix
Nvidia users update your Graphics Driver to v451.67
The GeForce Game Ready Driver v451.67 brings day 1 support for Horizon Zero Dawn : Complete Edition, optimizing your system’s performance in this highly anticipated title for the best possible experience.
You can also download the driver directly from the link below. Just fill up the details and your driver should be available for download.
AMD users update your AMD Graphics Driver to v20.7.2
Though AMD has not released any driver that specifically supports Horizon Zero Dawn, it is wise to keep your drivers updated. If you are an AMD user then you can find the latest Adrenaline driver from the link given below.
Windows 10 64 bit is mandatory to run this game
The PC version of Horizon Zero Dawn does not support any other OS other than Windows 10, that too the 64-bit version. So if you have a different OS installed then you are out of luck here. Neither this game will run on Windows 7, nor will it run on Windows 8.1 or Linux.
Verify the in-game files of Horizon Zero Dawn on Epic Launcher
If you have purchased Horizon Zero Dawn on Epic Games Launcher then you can repair the game by verifying the in-game files. Here is how to do it :
- Open Epic Launcher
- Go to your Library
- Take your mouse pointer on Horizon Zero Dawn : Complete Edition
- Click on the Settings icon beside the Launch icon
- Click on Verify
- Restart the launcher after the process is completed
Repair Horizon Zero Dawn via Steam
Now if you have Horizon Zero Dawn on your Steam account then verify the in-game files of the game to check whether your system is missing any files that might be causing the game to crash or freeze:
- Go to your Steam Library
- Right click on Horizon Zero Dawn
- Select Properties
- Click on the Local Files tab
- Click on Verify Integrity of Game File
Whitelist Horizon Zero Dawn on your Anti-Virus Software
Anti-Virus software hooks very deep into user systems and can affect disk and network operations which can cause crashes in games. Some games also use copy protection technology that can appear as malicious software to an AV scanner, resulting in potential false-positive alerts.
Try disabling your Anti-Virus software temporarily and then run Horizon Zero Dawn. It may also be necessary to add exceptions for Horizon Zero Dawn in your AV configuration.
If you are using Windows Defender instead of a third-party AV software then here is how to add Horizon Zero Dawn on the exceptions list of Windows Defender:
- Go to Windows 10 settings
- Click on Update & Security
- Select Windows Security from the left sidebar
- Click on Virus & threat protection
- Under Virus & threat protection click on Manage settings
- Under Exclusions click on Add or remove exclusions
- Click on Add an exclusion
- Select File
- Select the .exe or executable file of Horizon Zero Dawn
- Restart your PC
Terminate any sort recording or overclocking utilities
Close any kind of recording or overclocking utility that is running on your PC. Overclocking applications like the RivaTuner or MSI Afterburner, are causing crashes for a lot of games. Sadly, Horizon Zero Dawn is one of them. Even the slightest change in the base memory clock or core clock via an overclocking application is causing the game to crash after few minutes. A lot of games had the same problem. So it is better to stay on the safe side
Wait for the developers to release a patch
Considering how big the launch of Horizon Zero Dawn is on PC is, the developers are constantly on their toes, addressing the issues coming their way immediately. So be patient and wait for a word from the developers. We are pretty sure that they will be releasing a patch to fix the crashing issues pretty soon.
These are all the fixes we have for people for whom Horizon Zero Dawn is crashing and won’t launch.
Update your OS
The DirectX issue could be related to your Windows 10 version. Windows 10 updates cannot be trusted. The recent Windows 10 updates have already caused loads of problems for a lot of AAA titles. The Windows 10 KB4512941 update that was released few months ago gave some serious trouble to gamers all over the world. From high CPU usage to constant stuttering while playing games or running heavy applications, people had to face everything.
Thankfully, Microsoft has already released an update that fixed the problem mentioned about. But who knows, there might still be some users who have not updated their Windows since then out of fear and are still facing performance issues. So check whether you have pending Windows updates or not and then update your OS. Here is how to do it:
- Go to Settings
- Go to Update & Security
- Click on Check for updates
- Wait for the updates to get installed
- Restart your PC
Click here to check out the Official Steam Discussions page of Horizon Zero Dawn.
That’s all folks!
Last Updated on August 9, 2020
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.