Sea of Thieves is a first-person action-adventure game. It is currently available on Steam. In the game, players travel through an open world on a pirate ship. The game is described as a “shared-world adventure game,” which means that groups of players will encounter each other on a regular basis throughout their adventures, occasionally forming alliances and occasionally going head-to-head. The player assumes the role of a pirate who must complete various trading company voyages in order to become the ultimate pirate legend. Players must reach level 50 with at least three of the trading companies in order to become a Pirate Legend.
According to multiple online reports, the affected players claim that when they try to launch the game, it simply freezes at the black screen. Another significant issue is that there is no sound during the black screen. After some time, players must press the Alt+F4 keys to exit the screen and do nothing else. As a result, this problem or bug is aggravating.
The Steam version of Sea of Thieves can crash due to a variety of factors. This could be due to a corrupted game file, an outdated or faulty graphics card driver, or compatibility issues. You will need to go through a series of troubleshooting steps to resolve this.
In this Guide. We will go over all the crashing scenarios and possible fixes for it.
Fix Sea of Thieves Crashing and Black Screen after launch
The possibility of the Sea of Thieves black screen appearing is high due to a PC configuration compatibility issue with the game’s system requirements. Meanwhile, an outdated graphics driver, missing or corrupted game files, an outdated game version, DirectX issues, overlay app issues, higher in-game graphics settings, and so on can all cause the game to launch with a black screen.
It’s worth noting that you should check out the game’s system requirements from the link provided to ensure there are no compatibility issues on your computer.
Here are some fixes for the following issue:
Run Game with Administrator Rights
To avoid user account control and privilege issues, run the game exe file as an administrator. On your PC, you should also run the Steam client as an administrator. To accomplish this:
- Right-click the Sea of Thieves exe shortcut file on your PC and select Properties.
- Choose Properties, then the Compatibility tab.
- Select the “Run this program as an administrator” checkbox.
- To save your changes, click Apply, then OK.
Disable Full-Screen Optimizations
- To begin, navigate to the C: Program Files (x86)SteamsteamappscommonSea of ThievesBinariesWin64 directory. [Go there if you’ve installed the Steam client or game on another drive or location.]
- Right-click on Sea of Thieves.exe and select Properties.
- Uncheck the Enable Fullscreen Optimizations toggle on the Compatibility tab.
- To save changes, click Apply and then OK.
The option can be found on the same compatibility page similar to admin rights
Check for Graphics Driver Updates
Check the graphics driver update status on your PC to see if it is outdated. An outdated GPU driver version or a corrupted driver can sometimes cause a variety of problems. It will also assist you in resolving black screen issues with games or applications. To accomplish this:
- To access the Quick Link Menu, press the Windows + X keys together
- Now, from the list, select Device Manager > Double-click on Display Adapters.
- Right-click on the dedicated graphics card you’re using and select Properties.
- Next, click Update driver > Search automatically for drivers.
- If an update is available, the system will download and install it automatically.
- After that, restart the computer to apply the changes.
Disable Overlay Applications
According to some affected players, overlay applications can run in the background while gaming, consuming system resources and causing issues with gameplay. So, if you’re not using a dedicated overlay application for chatting, taking screenshots, or recording gameplay sessions, disabling them before launching the game will come in handy.
Performance monitoring softwares like MSI afterburner is a big culprit when it comes to crashing certain games, additionally disable the steam overlay, Xbox Game bar, and The Nvidia Geforce overlay if you have one. Follow the steps below to disable these overlays
Disable Steam overlay
- First, launch the Steam client.
- In the client’s upper left corner, click on Steam.
- Go to Settings.
- Select “In-Game.”
- Uncheck the box that says “Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game.”
- Press the OK button.
Disable XBOX Game Bar
- Press the Start button.
- Select Settings.
- Go to Gaming.
- Turn off the Xbox Game Bar switch.
Disable Nvidia Geforce Experience Overlay
- First, launch NVIDIA GeForce Experience.
- Navigate to Settings or the gear icon.
- Disable the in-game overlay.
- If this does not resolve the Sea of Thieves crashes, continue reading for additional solutions.
Verify Game file integrity
It’s also a good idea to check the game files and try to repair them automatically with the Steam game client.
- Launch Steam and navigate to the Library.
- Right-click on the Sea of Thieves game and select Properties.
- Go to the Local Files tab by clicking on Properties.
- Select Verify Game File Integrity…This process will begin by verifying and checking all of the installed game files to see if a missing/corrupted file is present.
Allow the process to finish. Close the Steam client and restart your computer to apply the changes.
Finally, restart Steam and try again to run the Sea of Thieves game.
Adding Game exe to Firewall exceptions
- In the search bar on your desktop, type Windows Firewall and then click the icon that appears in the results.
- Select Allow an app or feature to pass through the Windows Defender Firewall.
- Scroll down until you find the game and check all of the boxes.
- Select the OK option.
Lower Game Graphic Quality Settings
Reduce the in-game graphics settings from the game menu to see if that helps. Disable V-Sync, Shadow effects, and Anti-Aliasing, and try running the game at a lower display resolution to resolve black screen issues.
These are some of the most effective fixes reported by several players on Reddit and Youtube.
Also Read: Sea of Thieves Server Status – Are the Servers Down? How to Check?