Guardians of the Galaxy crashing and won’t launch – This guide will show you how to fix crashing and launch related problems in the PC version of Marvel’s Guardian of the Galaxy. A lot of Steam users are experiencing this.
How to fix Crashes and Launch issues in Guardians of the Galaxy PC
It’s a new year, and a new Marvel game has just hit the shelves. Guardians of the Galaxy is Square Enix’s attempt to fix the mistakes they made with Marvel’s Avengers. Now the question is, have then been able to succeed in doing that? I would say, yes. They have definitely redeemed themselves with this one. But, I still won’t forgive them for what they did to Outriders. Anyway, let’s talk about the Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy.
The game belongs to the action-adventure genre, and it is based on the original Marvel Comics’ Guardians of the Galaxy comic book series. The game is now available for all the major gaming platforms.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy allows you to assume control of Star-Lord, and you play the game from a third-person view. You get to utilize Star-Lord’s signature elemental gun, and use his jet boots to fly or hover. But, you don’t fight alone. You get the obvious team members of Guardians of the Galaxy alongside you. That includes Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, and Drax the Destroyer. They are AI controlled, though, and there is no way for you to directly control them. All you can do is issue them various commands.
The game is decent, and I loved the experience personally. But, this Guardians of the Galaxy game has its fair share of issues. Just like Avengers, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy also suffers from crashes and launch issues. A lot of PC users are complaining about that on the official Steam Discussions page of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy.
Enough talking. Now, lets looks at some methods that you can use to fix the crashing and ‘won’t launch’ issue in Guardians of the Galaxy.
Make sure you have Windows 10 64-bit Build 1803 at least
There you go. Another title that doesn’t support Windows 7 or 8.1. Windows 10 64-bit is mandatory. And the version should be at least 1803.
If you don’t know how to check your Windows build, then all you have to do is:
- Press Windows+R keys on your keyboard
- Type winver and press enter
Your build details will pop up in a small window. It should look something like this:
I am using the latest build, and I haven’t had any issues launching the game on any of my three PCs.
Update your OS if you are using Windows 10
Which brings me to my next step. Update your OS immediately, if you are using Windows 10. Microsoft releases Windows 10 updates very frequently, and they end up breaking stuff with them, even more frequently. So, there is a huge chance that you might be sitting on a buggy version.
I can guarantee that, even if you have a low-end PC, you won’t face any crashing or launch issues if your OS and drivers are updated. I have tested the game on 3 systems, and one of them has a GTX 1050 TI installed. Guardians of the Galaxy started and ran flawlessly on all of them.
- Go to Settings
- Go to Update & Security
- Click on Check for updates
- Wait for the updates to get installed
- Restart your PC
GPU drivers optimized of Guardians of the Galaxy (Fix for crashes)
If you are facing crashes, then that might be because of your outdated graphics drivers. Though Nvidia and AMD have not released drivers specifically for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy yet, it is wise to use the latest ones[There is one coming very soon]. Here are the links:
I will update this space with the exact driver versions, as soon as the updates come in.
Update
Nvidia has already released a Game Ready Driver for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. The version is 496.49. You can download it from the link above or directly via GeForce Experience. Here are the release notes:
AMD has also released a driver optimized for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. The version is called Adrenalin 21.10.3 Optional. You can download it from the link above, or via AMD Auto-Detect. Here are the release notes:
Check if the .exe file of the game is being quarantined by your Anti-virus software or not
Anti-Virus software hook very deep into user systems and can affect disk and network operations, which can cause games to crash, or prevent them from starting. 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 Guardians of the Galaxy. It may also be necessary to add exceptions for the game in your AV configuration.
Make sure that you have DirectX 12
One of the biggest technical details about Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, that a lot of people seem to have missed, is that Guardians of the Galaxy runs only on the DirectX 12 API. If you have anything other than DX 12, then you are out of luck here. In order to check the DirectX version on your system:
- Press Windows+R keys on your keyboard
- Type “dxdiag” inside the box and press Enter
- The DirectX Diagnostic Tool will pop up
- Make sure you are on the System tab, look at the bottom of the System Information list. You should see your DirectX version there
If it is DirectX 12 then you can move further into this guide. If it is not, then you already have your answer. You can try downloading and installing the latest DirectX version from here. And see if that works out for you.
Launch the game directly through the .exe file
Instead of launching the game via EGL or Steam, just visit the folder where you have installed Guardians of the Galaxy. And launch the game directly by double-clicking on the executable or .exe file of the game. You can also try to launch it ‘as admin’, by right-clicking on the file, and selecting ‘Run as administrator’.
Avoid GPU overclocking to fix crashes
If by any chance you are witnessing crashes and freezes in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, that are completely random, then chances are it is being caused by an overclocking application or utility running in the background. A lot of games have been suffering from crashes lately due to applications like MSI Afterburner or Zotac firestorm. So it is best to stay on the safe side and run your GPU and CPU on default speeds.
Install the latest Microsoft Visual Studio
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 C++ redistributable, as there’s a chance it hasn’t been installed correctly.
Verify in the files Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy on Steam or EGL
You can actually verify the in-game files of Guardians of the Galaxy 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 Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
- Select Properties
- Click on the Local Files tab
- Click on Verify Integrity of Game Files
For Epic Games Launcher users, go to your Library in EGL and take your mouse pointer on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Click on the Settings icon (…) beside the Launch icon and select the ‘Verify’ option. Wait until the process is completed. Finish by restarting the launcher.
Performance updates from Eidos-Montréal
Considering how big the launch of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy on PC is, the devs at Eidos-Montréal 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.
If you think this guide has helped you, then let us know in the comment section below. And for more Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy guides, keep an eye on Frondtech. We will be covering every single technical issue of the game on the launch day. Good luck!
That’s all folks!
Last Updated on October 26, 2021
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.