Death Stranding Won't Launch, Crash Issues on PC - How to Fix

In this guide, I provide details on how to fix the PC version of Death Stranding crashing or not launching.

You can search for solutions to all the problems you encounter in Death Stranding or share the solutions you find for the problems here. Just use the comment box below. I will continue to update the guide!

The first thing to check is that the minimum system requirements are met.

	Minimum System Requirements	Recommended System Requirements
CPU	Intel Core i5-3470 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200	Intel Core i7-3770 or AMD Ryzen 5 1600
GPU	GeForce GTX 1050 3 GB or AMD Radeon RX 560 4 GB	GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB or AMD Radeon RX 590
RAM	8 GB	8 GB
Storage	80 GB available space	80 GB available space
OS	Windows 10	Windows 10

As you can see, you need to have the Windows 10 operating system to run Death Stranding on PC. And, Death Stranding requires Windows 10 version 1809 or later. This is the reason why the game does not run for many players.

Also, if you pre-loaded and the installation is stuck at 99%, it should be unpacking/decrypting now, it will probably take 20-30 minutes. If still the same, just restart Steam.

If everything is OK so far, you can now follow the steps below.

Troubleshooting Steps for Issues in Death Stranding

Method #1

You should keep your computer's GPU drivers updated to play Death Stranding smoothly on PC. Nvidia's driver, which is required to play Death Stranding at the highest performance, has already been released!

To ensure your system can play DEATH STRANDING at the fastest framerates, download and install our new DEATH STRANDING Game Ready Driver.

You can find the latest graphics drivers for Nvidia and AMD from the links below.

Nvidia: https://www.nvidia.com/download/index.aspx
AMD: https://www.amd.com/en/technologies/radeon-software

If Nvidia GeForce Experience is already installed, simply go to the Driver tab and download the available driver.

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Method #2

Redistributable Packages and DirectX 12 are required to run Death Stranding. So you need to update your Windows 10.

Just go to Windows settings. Select the Update & Security, then press the "Check for updates" button.

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Method #3

You should check if your game files are fine. You can easily do this on Steam and Epic Games launcher.

Steam:

• Go to Steam library
• Right-click on Death Stranding
• Select Properties
• Go to "Local Files" tab
• Press the "Verify Integrity of Game Files" button

Epic Games Store:

• Run the Epic Games Launcher
• Go to Library menu
• Navigate to Death Stranding
• Click on the three dots
• Select Verify

If it finds a missing or corrupt file, it will replace it with a new one.

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Method #4

Download vcruntime140_1.dll file. Then put that file in the folder where the game is installed. You should also put it in SysWOW64 folder (C:\Windows\SysWOW64).

You can easily find the folder where Death Stranding is installed: Steam Library > Right-click on Death Stranding > Manage > Browse local files

Instead of downloading this dll file from different sites, you can install all the Redistributable packages required for the system. You must download and install both x86 and x64 vc_redists on this page. Don't forget to restart the computer!

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Method #5

Antivirus/Firewall may prevent the game from running, so you should add the Death Stranding to the exclusion list.

Also, applications running in the background may cause problems. Such as MSI Afterburner, EVGA Precision X1, RTSS Rivatuner, ASUS GPU Tweak II, Fraps... Maybe this is the problem, you should detect and disable the program that is breaking Death Stranding.

You can try running Death Stranding after disabling all the programs & services by following the steps below.

• Type the msconfig on Windows search box.
• Press Enter key
• Go to the Services tab.
• Select “Hide all Microsoft services”
• Click on the “Disable all” button.

• Finally press the OK button.
• Reboot your computer.

If you want to restore it, just press the Enable All button by following the same steps.

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Method #6

If you have the latest version of Windows 10 and still encounter the "Windows 10 build 1809 required" error, this solution for you.

For some reason, your Steam client and Death Stranding may be set to run in compatibility mode with Windows 7/8. You have to fix this.

• Exit Steam. Be sure to close it completely! Check in the task manager if it is still running.
• Navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam
• Right-click on the steam.exe file
• Select Properties
• Go to Compatibility tab
• Uncheck the compatibility mode
• Press OK

You should do the same for ds.exe.

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Method #7

If there is a laptop user receiving an Access Violation C0000005h error, you should definitely try this method.

• Enter graphics settings into Windows’ search, then select Open once the results populate.

• Click the Browse button under “Graphics performance preference” in the window that appears.
• Select the ds.exe, then click Add.
  Default location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Death Stranding\ds.exe

• After that click on the Options button.

• A new window will popup, select the High performance in the Graphics preference page.

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These are for now! Stay tuned, I will update the article. You can submit your questions by leaving a comment below.