Monster Hunter Wilds crashing on startup? You can fix it
Having trouble with Monster Hunter Wilds (MHW)? Try these fixes for crashing issues.
Monster Hunter Wilds is finally here. Some of us even took the day off to dive in first thing in the morning, but not everyone’s that lucky. Many players are running into crashes at startup, black screen, or blurry graphics. Even if the benchmark tool or beta worked just fine for you, you might still experience issues launching it. Here’s everything you can try to fix it.
Fix for Monster Hunter Wilds not launching
While some players are waiting on an ultrawide fix for MH Wilds, others can’t even get the game to start. Turns out, Denuvo isn’t the culprit this time, but with complaints about optimization and shader issues piling up, it’s no surprise everyone’s hoping for a day-one patch to smooth things out.
If you don’t want to wait, here’s what you can try. And don’t forget to restart Steam or even your PC before relaunching the game, it often helps:
- If you have an AMD graphics card, the issue may be due to outdated drivers. Try installing the latest drivers, and if the problem persists, reinstall the Adrenalin app. This method helped with the MHW benchmark tool.
- Even if you don’t have an AMD card, check for updates for your graphics drivers, Windows and DirectX.
- Make sure your PC meets the game's minimum requirements (listed at the bottom of the Steam page). If it doesn’t, you might get low FPS or the game might not run. If you meet the minimum but not the recommended specs, try lowering the graphics settings.
- If you’re using multiple GPUs (NVIDIA SLI/AMD Crossfire) try turning them off, they can sometimes cause issues.
- Some antivirus programs might block the game by mistake. To fix this, add game’s files and folders to your antivirus and firewall exclusions. If they’re already there, try removing and re-adding them.
- Run the game as an admin by right-clicking the .exe file and selecting “Run as administrator.” If you're using Steam and don’t know where the file is, go to your library, right-click Monster Hunter Wilds, then select Manage ---> Browse local game files. Look for the .exe file with the game’s icon.
- Some high-end integrated GPUs and modern laptop GPUs might work, but Capcom hasn’t tested or officially supported them. If your laptop has both Intel integrated graphics and an NVIDIA card, you might need to tweak some settings to make sure it’s using the right GPU.
- Some cutscenes use video playback that depends on Windows' default Media Player codec. If you're having issues, try installing Microsoft's Media Feature Pack. Some Windows editions, especially in the EU and Korea, might not have it preinstalled.
- Verify your game files on Steam. In your Library, right-click Monster Hunter Wilds, select Properties, go to the Local Files tab, and click “Verify integrity of game files.”
- Close any unnecessary apps. Heavy software can impact the game's performance and stability.
- Last but to least, try running the game in Windows 8 compatibility mode. If you're using Steam and don’t know where the file is, go to your library, right-click Monter Hunter Wilds, then select Manage ---> Browse local game files. Look for the .exe file with the game’s icon. Right-click it, go to Properties, open the Compatibility tab, check Run this program in compatibility mode, and select Windows 8. Keep in mind that while this might help with crashes now, it could cause issues later.
