Always online games have some advantages in terms of achievement tracking, team play, etc. but the benefit far outweighs the issue that comes with an online game. Errors and bugs are more common with online games as the gameplay process is more complicated. However, multiplayer and co-op games have to be online. Back 4 Blood beta is live for players who preordered the game. For others, the beta starts on 12th Aug. One of the main problems reported by players is Back 4 Blood crashing, crash at startup, and won’t launch.
These issues are the most difficult to troubleshoot due to the wide range of PC problems that can cause a game to crash at startup or fail to launch. In this post, we have highlighted the most obvious and likely causes for the game crashing.
Note: The post is written with the available information at the time of writing. During the beta and post-launch, we will update this blog to reflect more effective solutions.
How to Fix Back 4 Blood Crashing, Crash at Startup, and Won’t Launch
Back 4 Blood may fail to launch if you have chosen not to install the required software during install. We suggest that you install all dependable software to run the game. With that cleared up, here are the solutions to fix Back 4 Blood crashing at startup, not launching, and other issues.
Quick Solutions to Fix Back 4 Blood Crashing on Startup Issue
- Disable the antivirus and run the game. One player had to uninstall Webroots Anti-Virus before the game worked. If the game runs after disabling the antivirus, whitelist the game folder in your antivirus software.
- Perform the clean boot before launching the game, it will take care of issues caused by third-party software interfering with the game process. You can find the steps below. If you don’t want to perform clean boot, ensure that overclocking software and the VPNs are turned off.
- If the game crashes mid-game, go to Options > Graphics and set Post Processing Quality to low
- If you have Anti-Aliasing enabled, disable it and reboot the game. check if the game crashes mid-game.
- If the xinput1_4.dll is missing, then go to C Drive > Windows > System 32 > find xinput1_3.dll > copy and paste the file on desktop > rename it to xinput1_4.dll > paste it back in the System 32 folder.
- Install the game on the C drive and preferably on an SSD
- Go to the install location of the game and try to start the game using the game executable. You can find the game executable (the one with file type Application and game logo as on desktop) here – Steam Library > Right-click on Back 4 Blood > Properties > Local Files > Browse…
- Disable the Steam Overlay. While you are at it, disable the Windows Game bar, Discord Overlay, and the GeForce Overlay.
- If you are crashing mid-game change the settings to default or set minimum for everything.
- Edit the config files and set Windows to anything other than Fullscreen. Or force the setting from Steam. Go to Steam Library > Right-click on Back 4 Blood > Properties > General tab > Set launch Option > Type -windowed –noborder > Ok.
- Disable Overclocking. The game runs on Unreal Engine 4 and it’s known to act up when the GPU or CPU is overclocked.
Other Solutions to Try If the Above failed
If the above solutions have failed, there are a bunch of other things you can try to fix the Back 4 Blood crashing on PC issue.
Windows 7 and Missing xinput1_4.dll Error
If you are on Windows 7, the game may fail to launch. The minimum requirement to play the game is Windows 10. While some games work on Win 7 even when the requirement suggests Win 10 that does not seem to be the case with this game. A lot of players on Win 7 are unable to launch Back 4 Blood. You can sometimes get the xinput1_4.dll missing error. This particular file belongs to DirectX 12, which is exclusive to Win 10 and 11. Downloading and placing the DLL file in the game folder may result in another error. “The application was unable to start correctly (0xc000007b). Click OK to close the application.” Currently, there is no fix for the game not working on Windows 7, but you can try this go to C Drive > Windows > System 32 > find xinput1_3.dll > copy and paste the file on desktop > rename it to xinput1_4.dll > paste it back in the System 32 folder. When the game launches we will suggest a way to do it with the Hex Editor if it’s possible. For reference on how to do it, refer to the linked post – Edit Hex Values to Run Game on Windows 7.
Update the Graphics Card Driver
Even if you are on Windows 10, there can be several reasons the game is crashing for you. One of them and a no-brainer, the graphics card. Outdated graphics cards are one of the most common reasons for games crashing. Go to the official Nvidia website and download the latest software for your GPU. When installing choose a clean install.
Start the game in a clean boot environment
We suggest a clean boot environment whenever there is a problem with games launching because it eliminates any third-party software preventing the game from starting. In a clean boot environment, you have only the Windows essential software running and everything else is suspended. Here are the steps you can follow.
- Press Windows Key + R and type msconfig, hit Enter
- Go to the Services tab
- Check Hide all Microsoft services
- Now, click Disable all
- Go to the Startup tab and click on Open Task Manager
- Disable one task at a time and restart the system.
Hopefully, the Back 4 Blood crash at startup or not launching is fixed after a clean boot. If not move to the rest of the solutions.
Verify the game files for corruption or missing files
If a portion of the game files are missing or corrupt, which can happen during the download and install process, the game will fail to launch. Steam has a simple feature to help with that – Verify the Integrity of game files.
Launch the Steam Client > go to Library > right-click Back 4 Blood > Properties > Go to Local Files > click on Verify Integrity of Game Files
Reinstall the DirectX Files and Visual C++ Redistributable
An issue with the DirectX will most likely result in the game crashing with or without an error. The usual error you would see is a missing DLL, like the one mentioned above. Updating or reinstalling DirectX can fix the issue. Here is a link to the official Microsoft website.
If the problem is not fixed by reinstalling the DirectX, the issue may be fixed by reinstalling the Visual C++ Redistributable.
That’s all we have in this guide. Hope that the Back 4 Blood crash at startup is fixed. If the issue persists, we will update the post a few days into beta and before the release of the game, so do check back. Meanwhile, if you have a better solution let us know in the comments.
Hi a frind of mine had an error where it wouldn’t start with no error message or hint what it would be.
but he still found a solution that is as simple as it is stupid:
If you have epic games installed update it!
We were playing it on steam but yeah epic games said no you can’t play it same went for remant from ashes for him xD