FIFA 22 brings a lot of new features most importantly Hypermotion technology. With the help of technology, the game brings real-life-like motion with 4000 new animations available on next-gen console users. The AI in the game has had a significant boost, now being capable of strategizing six moves ahead of the last title’s AI. It was never a better time to play FIFA than the current title, but some users are reporting issues such as FIFA 22 crashing at startup, freezing, and not launching. If you have encountered any of these issues, stick around and we will share some solutions.
Fix FIFA 22 Crash at Startup, Freezing, and Not Launching Problem
There is a wide range of issues that can result in the game crashing generally or at startup. I will not mull over the minimum specifications to play the game assuming you already know it and your system is well above the specified requirement. Few other things you need to ensure before you proceed to the solutions is to provide the game with admin privileges. Whether you are using Steam, Origin, or the EA Desktop, provide admin privilege to the launcher as well. To provide admin privileges to any app, either right-click on the desktop shortcut of the app or the executable .exe file, which is located in the install directory.
After right-clicking > Properties > Compatibility tab > check or tick the box that says Run this program as an administrator > Apply and Ok to save.
Although not necessary in this case, you should also whitelist the game in the Windows Firewall, Defender, or third-party antivirus so you don’t run into any future problems. With that cleared up, let’s start with the solutions.
Update the Graphics Card Driver and OS
Recently, NVIDIA released the latest Game Ready Driver, and the Windows version 2004 is available. Most new games release to be run on the latest software. If you have not updated yet, that could be potentially crashing the game. Hence, ensure that the graphics card driver and OS are updated.
Run the Game in a Clean Boot Environment
Often games crash due to third-party software either interfering with the game’s process or consuming too many resources on the system. We will start the system in a clean boot environment with only the essential components to run the OS. 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.
Once the PC boots up again, launch the game and check if the crashing problem still occurs. If it does, proceed to the next solution.
Play FIFA 22 on Origin or Steam and Not EA Desktop
EA Desktop is the future of the Origin launcher, but it’s still in beta, which means there is a lot of testing required before the launcher becomes perfect and playable. Even well-established launchers like Steam, Epic Store, Rockstar, and others occasionally lead to error, let alone an app that’s new. We suggest that you play the game on Steam, it’s by far the best launcher to play games among all the competition. But, it can’t or don’t want to, go to Origin rather than EA Desktop. The simple switch can potentially resolve the FIFA 22 crash at startup, freezing, and game not launching problem.
Alter FIFA 22 DirectX Rule
If you get an error message or the error log mentions DirectX, the problem could be with your DirectX files. However, even when the error log does not mention DirectX, this fix can potentially resolve the FIFA 22 crash at startup. Here are the steps you need to follow.
- Go to the install directory of the game and locate fifasetup.ini file
- Open the file using Notepad and change DIRECTX_SELECT = 0 to DIRECTX_SELECT = 1
- If it’s already set to 1, change it to 0.
- Save the file and play the game.
Disable Origin In Game For FIFA 22
If you are using the Origin launcher, you must disable the overlay from the software. The Origin overlay is known to act up with games leading to crash, especially when the crash happens at startup or at cutscene. Here are the steps you can follow.
- From the Origin client, go to My Game Library
- Select the game and right-click, select Game Properties
- From General tab, uncheck Enable Origin In Game For FIFA 22
- Save the changes and restart the client.
- Launch the game and check if FIFA 22 crash at startup is fixed.
Disable Steam and Discord Overlay
If you are playing the game via Steam and have Discord running, you must disable the Overlay from both the software. It causes problems similarly to the Origin Overlay. For players who are on Origin, but using Discord, they must also disable the Discord Overlay. Here are the steps for each software.
Disable Steam Overlay
- Launch Steam client
- Click on Library and right-click on FIFA 22
- Select Properties and uncheck Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game.
Disable Steam Overlay and Hardware Acceleration
- Launch the Discord app and click on User Settings
- Click on Voice & Video in the left menu
- Locate Advanced by scrolling down and click
- Next, disable OpenH264 Video Codec provided by Cisco System, Inc. and Enable Quality of Service High Packet Priority
- Go to Overlay and disable it
- Go to Advanced anddisable Hardware Acceleration.
Disable MSI Afterburner and Overclock Software
MSI Afterburner causes issues with a lot of games. Therefore, you must close the MSI Afterburner from the Task Manager before you launch the game. If you do not have the software, check for other game optimization software or applications that overclock the GPU or CPU. Terminate all such applications and the FIFA 22 crash at startup may be resolved.
Disable Nvidia GeForce Experience Overlay
Overlays of all software have the potential of crashing games. If you have GeForce Experience installed on your system, you probably have the Overlay enabled. Disable it to solve the FIFA 22 crash at startup or not launching problem. Here are the steps.
- Launch GeForce Experience and go to Settings
- From the General tab, disable the In-Game Overlay
- Restart the system and play the game.
Verify Integrity of Game Files
If the game itself is corrupted that could also lead to crash at startup or mid-game crash with FIFA 22. Here are the steps to check and repair corrupt files on Steam.
- Launch the Steam client
- From the LIBRARY, right-click on FIFA 22 and select Properties
- Go to LOCAL FILES and click on VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME FILES…
If you are using the Origin client, do the same in the client and check if the problem is fixed.
Finally, if the error still occurs, you may have to reinstall the entire game. A lot of users fixed the crash problem after reinstalling the game. Keep a watch on this post as we will update it as and when we have more hotfix for the issue.
My game keeps on veryfing game files and wont let me load up the game
cant get the game to open at all i literally just bought it havent even been able to play it cause it just wont open gets to choose the language and then shuts down. bought thru steam but opening with steam forces origin to open, so i cant choose to just load it through steam.
same did you fix it
Thanks very much
The game runs perfectly now when it couldn’t even load the title screen at first.
Wich one did u use