Does your Just Cause 4 crash so often that it’s almost unplayable? If the answer is yes, then you’ve come to the right place. Although this problem is quite frustrating and sometimes even hard to tackle, there’re still a few possible fixes you can try.
7 fixes for Just Cause 4 crashing
Here’re 7 fixes that have proved useful to many other players. You may not need to try them all; just work your way down the list until you find the one that works for you.
Fix 3: Run Steam/Just Cause 4 as administrator
Fix 4: Update graphics card drivers
Fix 5: Modify graphics settings
Fix 6: Set the priority to high
Fix 7: Close unnecessary programs
Fix 1: Check your PC specs
As a prerequisite act, you should check your PC specs and see if they meet the basic system requirements of Just Cause 4. In case you don’t know how to check your computer spes, here’s the procedure:
1) On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R at the same time to invoke the Run dialog box. Type in dxdiag and click OK.
2) In the DirectX Diagnostic Tool window, on the System tab, you’ll see the detailed information about your operating system, processor, memory, and DirectX version.
3) Go to the Display tab, then look for the information about your graphics card.
And here’s the minimum and recommended system requirements of Just Cause 4:
Minimum System Requirements
| Processor | Intel Core i5-2400 @ 3.1 GHz | AMD FX-6300 @ 3.5 GHz or better |
| Memory | 8 GB RAM |
| Graphics card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 (2GB VRAM or better) | AMD R9 270 (2GB VRAM or better) |
| DirectX | DirectX 11 |
| Operating System | Windows 7 SP1 with Platform Update for Windows 7 (64-bit versions only) |
| Storage | 59 GB available space |
Recommended System Requirements
| Processor | Intel Core i7-4770 @ 3.4 GHz | AMD Ryzen 5 1600 @ 3.2 GHz or equivalent |
| Memory | 16 GB RAM |
| Graphics card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (6GB VRAM or better) | AMD Vega 56 (6GB VRAM or better) |
| DirectX | DirectX 11 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 (64-bit versions only) |
| Storage | 59 GB available space |
Check to see whether your PC meets the minimum or even recommended system requirements of Just Cause 4. If it does, then you should proceed to the next fix; if it doesn’t, try to upgrade your hardware devices such as replacing the current graphics card with a more powerful one (based on your actual situation, of course).
Fix 2: Update the game
Always bear in mind to download and install the latest game patches of Just Cause 4. Usually you won’t miss the updates if you play Just Cause 4 on steam because the platform will automatically update the game for you (only when it has a network connection).
Since Just Cause 4 was released, Square Enix has been working on new patches to correct the technical issues reported by players. As these patches continue to be rolled out, there should be fewer crashes in the game. If you’re interested in what updates were released recently, go ahead to find more news about Just Cause 4 at https://square-enix-games.com/en_US/news/just-cause-4-development-update-august-29-2019.
Fix 3: Run Steam/Just Cause 4 as administrator
To run Steam/Just Cause 4 as administrator, here’s the guidance:
1) Right-click your Steam app and select Properties.
2) Go to the Compatibility tab, then check the Run this program as an administrator box. Click Apply > OK to save the change.
The next time you launch Steam, it’ll run under administrative privileges. Also, when prompted for confirmation, click Yes.
3) Now launch Steam and then click LIBRARY.
4) Right-click Just Cause 4 and select Properties.
5) On the next page, go to the LOCAL FILES tab. Then click BROWSE LOCAL FILES….
6) In the pop-up window, scroll down until you find JustCause4.exe. Right-click it and select Properties.
7) On the Compatibility tab, select the Run this program as an administrator check box. Then, click Apply > OK.
The next time you launch Just Cause 4, it’ll run under administrative privileges. When prompted for confirmation, click Yes.
Check to see if your game continues to crash. If it does, please move on to the next fix below.
Fix 4: Update graphics card drivers
Sometimes your crashing problem in Just Cause 4 is caused by out-dated graphics card drivers. This is particularly likely when you were presented with an error message reading “DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG” (also referred to as “Direct3D Error Code: 34”) when the game crashed. If you’re not sure whether all your graphics drivers are up-to-date, you should check.
You can do this in Windows Device Manager, but Windows doesn’t always provide you with the latest drivers; you can also download the correct drivers from the manufacturers’ websites and install them step by step, but the process can be rather time-consuming and error-prone. If you don’t have the time, patience or computer skills to update your device drivers manually, you can do it automatically with Driver Easy.
Driver Easy will automatically recognize your system and find the correct drivers for it. You don’t need to know exactly what system your computer is running, you don’t need to risk downloading and installing the wrong driver, and you don’t need to worry about making a mistake when installing. Driver Easy takes care of everything.
You can update your drivers automatically with either the FREE or the Pro version of Driver Easy. But with the Pro version it takes just 2 clicks:
1) Download and install Driver Easy.
2) Run Driver Easy and click the Scan Now button. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.
3) Click the Update button next to your graphics card driver to automatically download its correct version, then you can manually install it (you can do this with the FREE version).
Or click Update All to automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out of date on your system. (This requires the Pro version which comes with full support and a 30-day money back guarantee. You’ll be prompted to upgrade when you click Update All.)
Not only does updating drivers resolve the crashing problem in some cases, it also boosts your fps in games – for example, Nvidia keeps rolling out new drivers designed for different video games (including Just Cause 4) to enhance the gaming performance of its graphics cards.
Now that you’ve updated the graphics drivers, launch the game and see whether it keeps crashing or not. If it does, head over to Fix 5.
Fix 5: Modify graphics settings
Making certain tweaks in graphics settings may help. Although this is more like a workaround, at least it can reduce the processing burden on your PC and thereby lower the possibility of Just Cause 4 crashing. Here’s how:
1) Right-click an empty area on your desktop, then select NVIDIA Control Panel from the context menu.
2) In the NVIDIA Control Panel window, select Manage 3D settings from the left pane; then on the right panel, click Program Settings.
Use the down arrow button to expand Select a program to customize: and choose Just Cause 4 (justCause4.exe). If you cannot find Just Cause 4 in the list, click Add to bring in the game.
After selecting Just Cause 4, scroll through the list under Specify the settings for this program: to find Power management mode and set it to Adaptive.
3) Click Apply to save the changes.
Regarding graphics settings, there’re still some other options you should modify, such as:
- Turn on Vertical sync
- Turn off Screen space ambient occlusion (SSAO)
- Run the game in windowed/borderless mode.
If this fix didn’t solve your problem, take a stab at the next one.
Fix 6: Set the priority to high
You can try to set the priority of Just Cause 4 to “high” via Task Manager. Here’re the steps:
1) Launch Just Cause 4.
2) On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R at the same time to invoke the Run dialog box. Type in taskmgr and click OK.
3) In the Task Manager window, go to the Details tab.
4) Scroll down the list in Task Manager until you’ve found JustCause4.exe. Right-click on the app and select Set priority > High.
5) When prompted about confirmation, click Change priority.
6) Exit the window.
Now head back to Just Cause 4 and see whether it keeps crashing or not. If it does, then there’s one last fix you should try.
Fix 7: Close unnecessary programs
Somehow Just Cause 4 conflicts with certain programs. Although this kind of software clashes doesn’t come up very often, it’s still worth trying to close unnecessary programs while the game is running. Here’re a few you might need to shut down:
- Steam overlay
- MSI afterburner
- Nvidia Geforce Experience
You can try closing other programs. Just make sure you don’t close any unfamiliar ones in case you end important system processes by mistake, which may bring about critical problems to your computer.
You should also check the quarantine or blacklist of your antivirus in case it mistakenly classifies the game as a threat to your PC and prevents it from running properly. If your antivirus is truly the root cause, disable it temporarily while you’re playing Just Cause 4. However, you should be extra careful about what sites you visit, what emails you open and what files you download when your antivirus is disabled because your computer system is susceptible to security risks at that moment.
If you find out any programs conflicting with Just Cause 4, you can forward it to the game developer and seek help from them. Or you can contact the vendors of those offending apps. Usually the simplest way to resolve your problem is to disable all the unnecessary programs when you’re playing the game, or just uninstall them if you want.
Hopefully this article helped you resolve your crashing problem in Just Cause 4. If you have any follow-up questions or ideas, please feel free to leave a comment below. Thanks for reading!