From the initial gameplay, The Medium appears to be a promising title in the horror action genre. This is a unique game as it renders the character across two worlds, which also makes this game incredibly demanding on PC. It stands at par with games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Horizon Zero Dawn in terms of system requirements. As such, if you are experiencing The Medium crash at startup, stuck at loading, won’t launch, or crash to desktop, the first thing you need to do is check the system requirements. If you meet the system requirements, the guide can help you fix the crashing and launch problems with the game.
The Medium Crash at Startup, Won’t Launch, or Crash to Desktop
If you have met the system requirements to play the game, here are all the various causes that can lead to The Medium crash at startup, not launching, and crash to desktop. Besides the listed causes, if the game is bugged that could also be a cause, which cannot be fixed from the user end. For specific problems about the game, we will write other guides.
- If your GPU driver is outdated, it will lead to crashing problems. NVidia has new drivers with day-one support for The Medium, ensure that you have installed the driver to avoid launch problems. We have shared the link to the drivers later in the guide.
- Another major cause of crashes in games either in-game or startup occurs when the game is not updated. Therefore, check for updates for the game, but in this case it may not apply as the game’s just released and you probably are on the first install.
- Developers release new games with the intention that it’ll be running on the latest operating system version. If your OS is outdated, it can be the cause of errors including crash and not launching problem.
- Microsoft Redistributable Libraries are also important when it comes to running games. If you do not have them installed or they are corrupted or overwritten, it can cause problems with the game.
- When the game files are corrupted, The Medium will lead to crashing problems. Hence, when you encounter a crash at startup with The Medium, the first thing you should do is verify the game files. Steam, Epic, and GOG, all have a function to repair corrupt game files. Use the feature of the respective launcher.
- When you run the game on Fullscreen, it can cause performance problems. Hence, it’s recommended that you try to play the game in Windowed mode and check if the problem still occurs.
- When dealing with crash at startup, you should note that Overlays in software can cause crash, primarily the Steam, GeForce Experience, GOG, and Discord Overlays are known to cause crash at startup. In fact, don’t run any software that is not necessary while playing the game. Launch the game in a clean boot environment. We have shared the steps to perform a clean boot later in the post.
- Finally, if there is a problem with the hard drive where you have installed the game, it can also lead to crash. Therefore, try changing the install location of the game or use an external SSD. Using an SSD is among the recommendations to play the game. So, install the game on an SSD.
Run The Medium after clean boot
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.
Update the graphics card driver
NVidia announced yesterday that it will provide day-one support driver for the Medium. Ensure that you have installed the driver as it has hotfix and optimization for the game, which could eliminate The Medium crashing, crash at startup, and other launch problems like black screen. You can follow the below link to download the driver. After download, choose a clean install from the interface.
GeForce Game Ready 461.40 WHQL Driver
Update or reinstall DirectX files
Another reason The Medium crashes on startup or is not launching is the corruption of the DirectX installation. If there is a problem with DirectX, the game won’t launch and as soon as you try to launch it, the game will crash. To fix the issue, you need to update the DirectX to the most recent version. Follow the link to download the latest DirectX.
Disable Steam, GeForce Experience, and GOG Overlay
Another common cause for games crashing is the overlay software. All the above Overlays must be disabled before you play the game. Here are the steps you need to follow.
Launch Steam client. Click on Library and right-click on Baldur’s Gate 3. Select Properties and uncheck Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game.
Launch GOG client > Go to Settings by clicking the GOG icon on the left-corner > Go to Game Features and uncheck Overlay.
If you are running the system on a clean boot environment, you do not need to disable the Overlay in GeForce Experience as all third-party software will be disabled.
Disable overclocking or turbo boosting
If you are using third-party software like MSI Afterburner to overclock the CPU or GPU, it will be disabled when we launched the game after a clean boot, but certain overclocking or turbo boosting features need to be disabled from the BIOS. Ensure that the game runs without overclocking as it can cause The Medium crashing at startup.
Go to the computers BIOS settings and disable the ‘Intel Turbo Booster’ if you have it enabled. To prevent the game from crashing, you should reset the CPU and GPU to chipset manufacturer specifications.
Repair corrupt game files
When the game files are corrupt, the game will crash, either at startup or mid-game. Epic Games Store, Steam, and GOG have a feature that can repair corrupt game files. It’s quicker than reinstalling the entire game. Here are the steps you can follow for your respective launcher.
Launch the Epic Games Store > go to Library > The Medium > click on 3 dots near the title and select Verify.
Launch the Steam client > From the LIBRARY, right-click on The Medium and select Properties > Go to LOCAL FILES and click on VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME FILES…
From the GOG launcher, select The Medium > click Customization button at the right of the Play button > Manage installation > Verify / Repair
Wait for the process to complete then check if The Medium crashes at startup, won’t launch, not starting issues still occur.
Tune down the game settings
Not all of us have a super-powered gaming rig. Even when your system might meet the specifications to play the game, it may stutter and crash if you play it on high settings. Crash at startup usually does not occur due to game settings if you meet the minimum requirements, but can lead to the The Medium not loading and in-game crash. If you can make it to the settings screen, then, from the Options Menu, reduce the settings to the lowest. This should fix some startup problems you may experiencing.
Play The Medium on default settings
If you change the settings of the game, either using launch options of the Launcher or from the in-game settings, the game can crash. As such, play the game on default settings. That’s all we have in this guide, but we will update the post as we know more about the issue. If none of the above solutions have worked to resolve The Medium crash at startup, won’t launcher, and not launching issue, check back again and let us know about your problem in the comments.