Death Stranding is creating a new game genre for you to explore. With its fascinating set of gameplay mechanics, you definitely wouldn’t miss it! But the game isn’t perfect and you might encounter the crashing issue. If it did happen to you, don’t worry. Here are some working fixes for you.
Try these fixes
You might not need to try them all; simply work your way down the list until you find the one that works for you.
- Make sure your PC meets the specs
- Allow your game through the firewall or disable anti-virus software
- Update your graphics driver
- Clear temp files from your PC
- Run your game launcher as an administrator
- Verify your game files
- Disable overlay
- Stop overclocking
Fix 1: Make sure your PC meets the specs
Before you can get started playing Death Stranding, you need to check whether or not your PC is well-equipped to handle the game at the quality within your expectation.
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Processor | Intel CoreTM i5-3470 or AMD RyzenTM 3 1200 |
| Memory | 8 GB RAM |
| Graphics | GeForce GTX 1050 3 GB or AMD RadeonTM RX 560 4 GB |
| DirectX | Version 12 |
| Storage | 80 GB available space |
| Sound Card | DirectX compatible |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Processor | Intel CoreTM i7-3770 or AMD RyzenTM 5 1600 |
| Memory | 8 GB RAM |
| Graphics | GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB or AMD RadeonTM RX 590 |
| DirectX | Version 12 |
| Storage | 80 GB available space |
| Sound Card | DirectX compatible |
You can learn from the tables above that the DirectX version must be Version 12. Users with lower DirectX versions are experiencing more crashes while playing Death Stranding. So to better ensure you have the right DirectX version installed, you should take two steps below:
Step 1: Check your DirectX version
If you have no idea which version of DirectX you’ve installed, here’s how you can check:
1) On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key + R together to invoke the Run dialog box.
2) Type dxdiag and press Enter to launch the DirectX Diagnostic Tool.
3) Under the System tab, look for the DirectX version listed.
If your DirectX is not Version 12, take step 2 to update it.
Step 2: Update your DirectX version
If your DirectX is not Version 12, you should update it.
1) Go to the Microsoft DirectX download page.
2) Scroll down and in the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer section, select your language and click Download.
3) Once the download is completed, click on the dxwebsetup.exe file and follow the on-screen instructions to install it.
4) Now restart your computer.
When you’re sure that your PC perfectly meets the system requirements but the game just keeps crashing, you should try the methods listed in this article.
Fix 2: Allow your game through the firewall or disable anti-virus software
Windows Firewall or antivirus software is developed to detect and remove computer viruses. But there are situations when they fail to grant the authority to legitimate applications like your games. So if it happens to you, you should allow your game through Windows Firewall and disable your antivirus software temporarily.
Windows Firewall
To stop Windows from blocking your game, simply follow the steps below:
1) Press the Windows logo key + I together on your keyboard and select Update & Security.
2) From the left pane, click Windows Security. In the Protection areas section, click Firewall & network protection.
3) Click Allow an app through firewall.
4) Locate Death Stranding and tick both Private and Public.
5) Click OK to save the changes.
Anti-virus software
To disable anti-virus software temporarily, simply click the links below and follow the instructions to disable the anti-virus software you’re running:
After you’ve done all of these, relaunch your game to check if the crashing persists. If it does, move on to the next fix.
Fix 3: Update your graphics driver
Video games are graphics-intensive. If your game keeps crashing, the possibility is that your graphics driver is corrupt or outdated. In this case, you need to update your graphics driver as your problem could be solved immediately.
There are two ways you can update your graphics driver:
Option 1 – Manually – You’ll need some computer skills and patience to update your drivers this way because you need to find exactly the right driver online, download it and install it step by step.
OR
Option 2 – Automatically (Recommended) – This is the quickest and easiest option. It’s all done with just a couple of mouse clicks – easy even if you’re a computer newbie.
Option 1 – Download and install the drivers manually
NVIDIA and AMD keep updating drivers. To get them, you need to go to the official websites, find the correct drivers, and download them manually.
Once you’ve downloaded the drivers, double-click on the downloaded file and follow the on-screen instructions to install the drivers.
Option 2 – Automatically update your drivers
If you don’t have the time, patience, or computer skills to update the 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.
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 the flagged driver to automatically download the correct version of that driver, 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.)
After updating your drivers, restart your computer and launch your game to check if the issue is fixed. If not, try the next fix.
Fix 4: Clear temp files from your PC
Temporary files, sometimes referred to as temp files, are only needed to exist temporarily while in use. They consume some disk space, which can slow down your computer or even cause a crashing issue when you’re playing games. So you can delete them and it shouldn’t cause any problems.
Here’s how you can do it:
1) Press the Windows logo key + R together on your keyboard to open the Run dialogue box.
2) Type %temp% and press Enter.
3) Select all the folders (press Ctrl + A). Right-click and select Delete.
After deleting temp files, relaunch your game to check if the crashing issue persists. If it still crashes, don’t worry, there are a few other fixes for you.
Fix 5: Run your game launcher as an administrator
Granting the launcher with administrative rights can resolve many issues including the game crashing issue. So you can run Steam or Epic Games Launcher as an administrator to fix the Death Stranding crashing issue.
For Steam
1) Right-click on the Steam shortcut from your desktop and select Open file location.
2) Scroll down and find the Steam application. Right-click on it and select Properties.
3) Select the tab Compatibility and check the box Run this program as an administrator. Then click Apply > OK.
After applying the changes, open your Steam client and launch Death Stranding to check if the problem is solved.
For Epic Games Launcher
1) Right-click on the Epic Games Launcher shortcut from your desktop and select Open file location.
2) Scroll down and find the EpicGamesLauncher application. Right-click on it and select Properties.
3) Select the tab Compatibility and check the box Run this program as an administrator. Then click Apply > OK.
After applying the changes, open Epic Games Launcher and launch Death Stranding to check if the problem is solved.
Fix 6: Verify your game files
If some of your game files are missing or corrupted, it would most likely cause the crashing issue. So in this case, you’re supposed to verify your game files to rule out the cause.
Here are the steps you can follow to do that on Steam and Epic Games Launcher.
For Steam
1) Launch the Steam client. Under the LIBRARY tab, right-click on Death Stranding and then select Properties.
2) Select the tab LOCAL FILES and click VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME FILES….
This verification process would take a while to finish. After that, play your game to check if the issue is solved.
For Epic Games Launcher
1) Open the launcher and navigate to the Library section.
2) Move your mouse pointer to Death Stranding and click on the three dots.
3) Once open, click Verify in the drop-down navigation.
Fix 7: Disable overlay
Many players have reported that disabling overlay apps help fix the crashing on Death Stranding. So you can also give it a shot.
Here is what you can do to disable overlay. Simply click the links below based on the apps you’re using.
Nvidia Geforce Experience in-game overlay
Discord in-game overlay
Steam overlay
Disable Geforce Experience in-game overlay
1) Click on the Settings icon.
2) Under the GENERAL tab, scroll down and switch IN-GAME OVERLAY to OFF.
After you’ve applied the changes, remember to quit the app.
Disable Discord in-game overlay
If you have Discord running, you can disable overlay by following these steps:
1) Click on the Users Settings icon.
2) Click on Overlay and switch Enable in-game overlay to OFF.
After applying the changes, quit Discord.
Disable Steam overlay
1) Launch the Steam client and select the tab LIBRARY.
2) Right-click on Death Stranding and select Properties.
3) Select GENERAL and uncheck the box Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game.
After applying the changes, exit Steam and run your game to see if this fixed the issue.
Fix 8: Stop overclocking
You may have tried overclocking your computer using some applications like MSI Afterburner to have better gaming performance. But adversely, it would cause crashing on your game. So you need to change those settings back to normal.
So these are 8 fixes for the Death Stranding crashing issue. Hopefully, they work for you! If you have any ideas or questions, do not hesitate to drop a comment below.