Warhammer 40K Darktide Won’t Launch and Crashing at Startup – How to fix

Darktide won’t launch crashing – Darktide is said to be crashing for a lot of gamers, even with those having high-end systems. We managed to fix ours, and we are sure our suggestions will also fix yours.

Warhammer 40000 Darktide is a first-person action game developed and published by Fatshark. It is available for Xbox Series X/S and Microsoft Windows. The game falls under the fighting/adventure type and received positive reviews on Steam.

The game is set in the fictional city of Tertium, where bloodthirsty enemies are captured, and your mission is to take back the city from them. Warhammer 40K Darktide features an excellent Coop experience as well.

Since the game was released, we have been getting reports and complaints from the Forums that Darktide was crashing for alot of players playing on PC. Yes, we know that the game is quite resources intensive, but the game is said to be crashing for people with high-end systems. We initially faced a similar issue during the game’s initial launch but managed to fix it by using one of the techniques. But we have also listed other suggestions if that doesn’t work out in your case.

So this article will guide you on how to fix crashes in Warhammer 40000 Darktide.

Darktide Won’t Launch and Crashing at Startup – How to fix

Here are some of the fixes you can try to eliminate the crashing issue in Warhammer 40000 Darktide.

Check if you meet the System requirements.

Remember that you will face repeated crashes in Darktide if you don’t meet the system requirements. Here are the minimum system requirements to run Darktide. Please have a look at it.

But don’t get fooled by the settings given above. A GTX 970 will only help you barely start the game. You won’t get more than 30 FPS at 1080p on a GTX 970 and Ryzen 5 2600.

Verify the Integrity of the Files

Since the game has been launched on Steam, you must ensure that it has downloaded all its files. We have seen cases where verifying files fixed a lot of crashes and startup issues for almost all the games released on steam, and Darktide is no exception. This is how you can ascertain files on Steam.

1. Go to your library and right-click on Darktide game
2. Click on properties and select the Local Files Tab
3. There will be a button called “Verify Integrity of Game Files.”
4. Click on that, and once it’s done, exit and relaunch steam.
5. Rerun the game and try it out.

Verifying the game files fixed the issue for us. If your problem still needs to be resolved, please keep reading.

Repair Warhammer Darktide to fix crashes (For Xbox app users)

If you are playing Darktide on the Xbox app on your Windows 10 or Windows 11 PC, then you can actually repair the game. This will fix the game if there are any sorts of missing or broken files. Here is how to do it:

1. Open your Xbox app
2. Click on ‘My Library’
3. Click on ‘Manage Installs’, located in the top-right corner
4. Select the ‘Manage’ button beside Darktide
5. Now click on the ‘Files’ tab
6. Select ‘Verify and Repair’

The verification process will start as soon as you do so, and the Xbox app will try to re-download any corrupted or missing game files.

Allow Darktide in Windows Security

1. Click on the up arrow icon in the taskbar notification area.
2. Right-click on Windows Security > View security dashboard.
3. Click on Virus & threat protection.
4. Under Virus & threat protection, click on Manage settings.
5. Under Exclusions, click on Add or remove exclusions.
6. Click on Add an exclusion.
7. Select Folder.
8. Add the entire folder of Darktide there.

If you don’t know where your Darktide installation folder is, Go to your Steam library, right-click on Darktide, select “Manage”, and the “Browse local files”.

Make sure Microsoft Gaming Services is updated on your PC

Check for updates to the Microsoft Gaming Services in the Downloads section of the Microsoft Store.

Visual C++ 2019 Redistributable Installation

The Darktide relies a lot on the Visual C++ 2019 Redistributable, and without the sound files, you might have issues with the game crashing and not launching. This is what you need to do to reinstall it.

1. First, uninstall the Visual C++ 2019
2. Then reinstall the Visual C++ 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022 Redistributables by going to this link
3. Remember that you will be prompted with a repair option when installing. Click on that repair button to continue.

Disable all the Background Applications

Disable all the background applications and overlays such as Shadowplay, FRAPS, RivaTuner, Reshade, and most importantly, AMD Chill. These are known to cause issues with Darktide.

To disable these applications from starting up again the next time you restart your PC, all you need to do is

1. First, go to Search on your Windows Taskbar
2. Type MSConfig and select the System Configuration option
3. Under the General Tab, you will find the Selective Startup option
4. Uncheck the “Load Startup Items.”
5. And restart your PC.

If you are no longer facing the crashes, try turning on the programs repeatedly and running the game simultaneously to see which program is the root cause of Darktide crashing.

Reinstall all your Graphics Card Drivers

A lot of the time, outdated Graphics Cards cause the Darktide game to crash. Whenever you update your graphics drivers, it is best to perform a clean installation so that all the older installation files get erased. You should do this if you also install a new GPU.

Nvidia users

Download the latest NVIDIA drivers that provide optimal support for Darktide. The version is 526.98. Download and install it manually from here or via GeForce Experience.

AMD Users

AMD users can download the Adrenalin 22.11.1 Optional version from here as it supports Darktide. Just fill in the details, and download links should show up.

Run Windows System File Checker

The Windows System File Checker will help you find missing files and DLLs on your system. These missing files might be issues of Darktide crashing repeatedly. To run the Windows System File Checker first

1. Run cmd or command prompt as an Admin
2. Select Allow, and a black dialog box will open
3. Type the following commands DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth and hit enter
4. Once the process is done, enter this command  sfc /scannow
5. Once the scan is complete, restart your PC and rerun Warhammer.

Don’t overclock

If you have an overclocked CPU or GPU, bring it back to the default settings and try playing the game again. Most of the time, unstable overclocks are the root cause of games not running properly.

Check if your RAM is working Fine.

We have also seen people facing Game, and application crashes because of faulty RAM or Random Access Memory. You can always run a Windows Memory Diagnostic Program on your system to find any errors caused by the current RAM installed.

Check if your system is Overheating.

If your system is overheating, then Darktide will crash no matter what games you are running. Use software like HW Monitor and Speccy to identify the minimum and the peak temperatures.

Contact Fatshark

If nothing works, you can Contact Fatshark, and they will help you identify the issue and the type of crash you are having with a Crash Report. Always submit crash reports when the game crashes using the Crash Reporter Pop-Up.

So this was all about how to fix Crashes in Warhammer 40000 Darktide.

If you think this guide has helped you, then let us know in the comment section below. And for more Warhammer, 40000 Darktide PC guides, keep an eye on Frondtech. We will cover every technical issue of the game on the launch day. Good luck!

That’s all, folks!

Last Updated on December 3, 2022

Akash

Akash Roy, 31, Senior Editor at Frondtech and an avid gamer by choice dabbles in all things tech. Whether be it spending hours in single-player narrative-based games or going through the latest innovation in technology and chip manufacturing he prefers to stay on top of things. At the other times, you’ll find him tucked away drumming and headbanging to Rock and Roll Classics.