If you’ve stumbled upon this post it most likely means you’re desperately trying to play Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, the new exciting action-adventure videogame experience created by From Software, makers of Bloodborne and Dark Souls and generally available since March 22, 2019 on PS4, Xbox One and PC… But you are unable to do that, as the game keep crashing on your Windows 8 or Windows 10 machine. Depending on your given scenario it might crash right on start, before the intro cutscene, during the intro cutscene, right after the intro and before the actual game, or even during the game.
These kind of sad stories can be found through all the web, as demonstrated by countless threads opened by people experiencing the issue:
- Sekiro on PC: Crashing on Startup (Reddit)
- Sekiro crashing on PC (Reddit)
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice keep crashing at startup (SteamCommunity)
… and so on.
As a matter of fact, we also did experience some crashes here and there, which we quickly solved by following some priceless advices given by the player community. For this very reason, in order to help other games, we’ve tried to collect all those hints and workarounds in a single article.
If you’re also experiencing these crashing issues, here’s a list of things you can try to work around it.
Update DirectX
Ensure that you have the latest DirectX version on your Windows machine by clicking here: download the file and execute it for a quick update check.
Update Graphic Drivers
These crashing issues seems to affect most NVIDIA graphic cards: if you run a NVIDIA GPU yourself, be sure to download the latest drivers available from the official NVIDIA driver website. If you run an ATI card (or any other card) be sure to do the same, as your issue might be related to outdated drivers as well.
Disable Full-Screen Optimizations
Some users reported that disabling the Windows 10 Full-Screen Optimizations features helped them to fix the issue. To do that, follow these steps:
- Press WINDOWS + E to open the File Explorer.
- Navigate to the game executable in your steamapps/common/sekiro folder: if you don’t know where it is, check out your Sekiro configuration in the following way: right-click on the Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice game entry in the Library -> Games panel, then go to the Local Files tab and click to Browse Local Files.
- Right-click the sekiro.exe file.
- Click Properties, then navigate to the Compatibility tab.
- Check the Disable fullscreen optimizations option.
Here’s a YouTube video explaining the whole process (thanks to Dannikur for having published that):
Disable Steam Desktop Game Theater
- Open Steam, then go to the Library -> Games panel.
- Locate the Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice game entry.
- Right-click on it and choose Properties.
- In the General tab, uncheck the Use Desktop Game Theater while SteamVR is active option.
Disable Steam Overlay while in game
- Open Steam, then go to the Library -> Games panel.
- Locate the Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice game entry.
- Right-click on it and choose Properties.
- In the General tab, uncheck the Enable the Steam Overlay while in game option.
Disable Secondary Screen
If you have a secondary screen/dual monitor, try to disable it: are a number of users reported that some specific dual monitor configurations could cause problems to the Sekiro game engine, such as extreme lag and/or crashes.
Close your browser(s)
As odd as it might sound, try to shutdown all yout browser instances, including all the webpages & tabs: it has been also reported that the Sekiro game engine might have some stability issues if there are several browser windows opened – especially with Google Chrome.
Conclusion
We sincerely hope that our suggestions will help you to fix your crashing issues with Sekiro. If you want additional help to play the game, learn the basics and/or a walkthrough to the various chapters, areas and zones, here are some useful resources you can look at thanks to IGN:
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Wiki Guide
- Essential Tips to Know When Playing Sekiro
- Things to Do First in Sekiro
- Skills to Get First in Sekiro
- How Combat Works in Sekiro
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Walkthrough
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Boss Guides