Fix: God of War Crashing/Freezing or Not Launching on PC

Finally, after a long 4 years, God of War came out on PC with more actions, putting an end to the gamer’s wait. In addition, ardently, PC players are allowed to play the game with special visual effects, including 4K and graphical optimization. But while trying to enjoy all of these features, unfortunately, many gamers experienced crashing and freezing issues in God of War, just as PS4 users have experienced for years.

There might be several reasons for the same issues, such as low system configuration, corrupted files missing updates, and many more. According to a few players, God of War does not launch on their PC, thus testing their patience. If you are the one suffering from the God of War Crashing and Freezing or Not Launching on PC, then this article is for you. Check out all the solutions mentioned below to fix the same issues quickly.

Some workarounds:

  • Make sure your system meets all the requirements to run the game smoothly.
  • Check any unwanted apps/programs running in the background.
  • Ensure you have an uninterrupted internet connection.
  • Disable antivirus
  • Install the latest game patch.
  • Restart the game and system.

If any of the above strategies do not apply to you, you can move on to the exact solutions given below.

Fix 1: Run the Game as Administrator:

If God of War crashes and freezes on the startup screen, you need to run the game with administrator privileges. This time the game will use all the privileges to run smoothly without a hitch. To do so,

  • Firstly, move on to the God of War installation folder, then right-click on the God of War.exe file and open its Properties option.
  • In the newly opened God of War.exe window, select the Compatibility tab, tick on the checkbox beside Run this program as an administrator and click on the OK button. 
  • Finally, restart the system and see the game again crashing or not.

Fix 2: Update Driver:

Sometimes the outdated Graphic driver might be the main cause of the God of War Crashing or not launching issue. The best effective solution for the same reason is updating the driver to the latest version. To do so,

  • Firstly, type ‘device’ in the search box and open the Device Manager window from the search result.
  • Then expand the option Display adapters and select the Graphics driver you need to update.Update driver
  • Right-click over the driver and select the Update driver from the sub-menu.
  • Finally, restart the system and see the issue resolved from the game. 

Fix 3: You Need to Verify the Integrity of Game Files:

In case any game files get corrupted, then also God of War crashes or lags at the startup screen. To avoid this situation, you need to check the integrity of game files. To do so,

  • Firstly, open the Steam client and go to its Library section.
  • Inside Library, select and right-click on God of War, then select the Properties option.Verify integrity of game files
  • Inside the newly opened window, select the Local Files and click on Verify integrity of game files.
  • Finally, restart the game and check now you can run the game without any trouble.

Fix 4: Create Game Save Folder:

As per some suffered users creating the game save folder on their system helped them to resolve the God of War crashing and shuttering issue; you can try the same trick on your case as well. To do so,

  • Firstly, open File Explorer on your system and click on This PC.
  • Then move to Local Disk (C:)-> User folder-> Test-> Saved Games.
  • In the newly opened folder, you could not find the God of War folder, then create a new folder and name it as God of War and save the folder.
  • Once done, relaunch the game and check any issue that disturbs you.

Fix 5: Disable Overlays:

Another solution to tackle the God of War crashing or not launching issue is disabling the overlays. This feature might help to improve the performance of the game, but sometimes it adversely affects the game. In this scenario, you need to disable all the overlays. To do so,

In GeForce Experience,

  • Firstly, open GeForce Experience on your desktop and click on its Settings icon.
  • Inside Settings, from the right pane, turn off toggle beside In-game overlay option.

In Discord,

  • Firstly, open Discord on your system and click on the Settings icon from the bottom left side of the window.
  • Inside Settings, select the Overlay from the left pane and turn off the toggle beside Enable in-game overlay option from the right pane menu.
  • Finally, restart the system and see the game is crashing or not.

Fix 6: Install Visual C++ Files:

At times simply installing the Visual C++ files might help you to resolve the God of War lagging or shuttering issue. To do so,

  • Firstly, open your browser and go to the Microsoft Visual C++ download page.
  • Click on both the X64 and X86 files and download them to your system.
  • Once done, install both files and relaunch the game and see the improvement.

Fix 7: Update Windows:

If your Windows are not up to date, it may adversely affect the game’s performance. The best effective solution here is updating your Windows as quickly as possible. to do so,

  • Firstly, press Windows + I to open the Settings window on the screen.check for updates
  • Then click on the Windows Update and click on the Check for update tab from the new screen.
  • Finally, relaunch the game and check for the crashing issue.

Fix 8: Run SFC Scan:

If any of the system files get corrupted or damaged, then also you will encounter the same issue. The possible solution to overcome the same issue is repairing the damaged system files using the built-in SFC tool. To do so,

  • Firstly, type ‘cmd’ in the search box, open the Command Prompt window, open it with administrative access.
  • Inside the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press Enter to run the SFC scan,

Sfc /scannow

  • After executing the command, restart the system and see the result.

Fix 9: Perform a Clean Boot:

At times, performing a clean boot might help you to resolve the God of War crashing or not launching issue quickly. To do so,

  • Firstly, type System Configuration in your desktop search box and open the relevant search result.
  • Inside the System Configuration window, select the Services tab from the top menu, tick the checkbox beside the Hide all Microsoft services and click on Disable all and OK button.System Configuration
  • Then select the Startup tab and click on the Open Task Manager link.
  • In the newly opened window, select the Startup tab from the top menu and select all startup services in the list.
  • And click on the Disable button.
  • Once done, restart the system and check now the game is running smoothly on your system. If yes, then again open the System Configuration window, select the Service tab and enable all the services.
  • Enable the services one after another and find the problematic service in the list; once found, remove the service permanently from your system.
  • Finally, restart the system again and see the discussed issues persists.

Fix 10: Reinstall the Game:

If any of the above solutions helped you, then you need to uninstall the God of War and reinstall it from a reliable source. Once done, relaunch the game using your account credentials and see the result.

These are all the top solutions to resolve the God of War crashing and freezing or not launching issue. However, if you have any queries or doubts after reading this article, then please leave a comment in the below-given comment box.