Dead Island 2 Crashing [FIXED]

Players have been plagued by the Dead Island 2 crashing issue, despite the game being very well-optimized. Naturally, the mysterious crashes caused a lot of confusion among the players, so they resorted to online forums and communities like Reddit to report the issue. For the majority of the player dealing with this problem, Dead Island 2 crashes after 15 to 20 minutes of launching the game. But some players specifically encounter the crashing issue while in the inventory or item menu of Dead Island 2. In a few rare cases, you might notice that the game crashes on startup. 

Why Is Dead Island 2 Crashing?

Unfortunately, too many factors contribute to a game not working as intended. In the case of Dead Island 2, it also depends on the type of crash you are experiencing. You can look at your crash’s specific circumstances and timing to narrow down the causes and reach a potential solution.

• Generally, if your game crashes after 15 minutes of launching, the issue likely stems from your PC’s inability to run Dead Island 2 properly.
• If the game crashes in the inventory menu, it is likely because of an AMD feature called AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.
• Most other types of crashes on startup are generally related to corrupted or missing game files.

Remember that these are generalizations, and the causes can sometimes be different. Regardless, the very first thing you should do is confirm if your PC meets the minimum hardware required to run Dead Island 2.

Minimum Hardware Requirements

These are the minimum system requirements that allow you to play Dead Island 2 on low to medium graphic settings:

GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1060 6 GB or AMD Radeon R9 390X 8 GB
CPU: Intel Core i7-7700HQ or AMD FX-9590
OS: Windows 10 | 64-bit Version
DirectX Version: 12
RAM: 10 GB

Recommended Hardware Requirements

To play Dead Island 2 comfortably and without any issues, you will need hardware equivalent to this:

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super 8 GB or AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT
CPU: Intel Core i9 9900K or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
OS: Windows 10 | 64-bit Version
DirectX Version: 12
RAM: 16 GB

How To Fix Dead Island 2 Crashing

While the type of crashing you experience can help narrow down potential causes, pinpointing a single culprit with absolute certainty can still be quite challenging. As such, you should try out all of the methods mentioned in this guide just to eliminate every possibility. 

Before you try some more effective solutions, make sure to update your GPU’s device drivers. Outdated device drivers can lead to many issues, including crashes. Once updated, restart your PC and see if the crashing has stopped. In case the issue persists, remain calm, as we are confident one of the solutions mentioned below will fix the crashing for you.

Disable AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 2

If you have AMD FSR 2 enabled, you will likely experience Dead Island 2 crashing in inventory or the item menu. AMD FSR 2 uses futuristic technology to deliver upscaled graphics and resolution. Even though the game renders the graphics at 1080p, the display you see gets upscaled to 1440p or even 4K. Unfortunately, as of the writing of this article, this feature is bugged and can cause Dead Island 2 to crash.

The solution is simple, as disabling AMD FSR 2 has managed to permanently resolve the crashing problem for many players. Even if you are experiencing crashes outside of the inventory menu, it is still recommended that you disable AMD FSR 2 due to the feature not working as intended.

How to disable AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 2:

1. Launch Dead Island 2 and navigate to the Options menu. From here, click on Display.
2. Inside the display settings, scroll down to find Advanced and click on it.
3. In advanced settings, scroll down to find the AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 feature. Switch it to off.

Verify Game Files In Epic Games Store

It is only natural for Dead Island 2 to crash if some important game files are corrupted or missing. This can happen due to updates that were not downloaded properly or other applications interfering with your game’s folder. Not only do bad game files cause crashing, but also a hoard of other issues that are not very fun to deal with. Fortunately, Epic Games has a very useful built-in feature that can verify any bad game files and fix them instantly.

Here is how to verify game files in Epic Games:

1. Launch Epic Games on your PC and find Dead Island 2 in your games library.
2. Click on the three horizontal dots and then click on Manage from the list of options. This will open a new Window.
3. Here, click on Verify and then wait for the process to finish.

Depending on the size of the game, it can take a few minutes for the process to complete. Once the process is finished, your game files will be restored to their healthy state, and the crashing should stop. If it does not, bad game files were likely not the cause of your crashing problem. In this case, you should continue trying out more solutions mentioned below.

Disable Windows Defender Firewall

This might come off as a surprise to some players. After all, antivirus software like Windows Defender Firewall keeps your PC safe from potential threats and other online viruses. This is true, but the problem arises when an antivirus software mistakes one of your trusted applications as a threat. When this happens, the software completely blocks out the application’s actions and does not allow it to start. In this case, the antivirus software could be mistaking Epic Games or Dead Island 2 as a threat, which could be the reason behind your crashes.

To see if this is the case, you should disable Windows Defender Firewall or any other 3rd party antivirus software you might be using. Once disabled, you can try launching Dead Island 2 and see if the crashing is fixed.

Here is how you disable Windows Defender Firewall:

1. Press the Windows button on your keyboard or click the Windows icon on your desktop to access the start menu.
2. In the start menu, click the gear icon to open Windows settings. Now click on the Update & Security option.
3. Now go to Windows Security and find the Firewall & Network Protection settings. Once located, click on it to open a new Window.
4. You will see 3 Firewall options in this new Window. Disable all 3 of them.

If Dead Island 2 does not stop crashing even after disabling your antivirus software, then you should skip to the next solution. But if the crashing stops, you will need to add Dead Island 2 and Epic Games as an exception in your antivirus software.

Add Exceptions In Your Antivirus Software

You should not keep Windows Defender Firewall or any other antivirus software disabled for long periods. Doing so can leave you vulnerable to all sorts of dangerous viruses that are spread throughout the internet. For this reason, you should add Dead Island 2 and Epic Games as an exception in your antivirus software. This will let the antivirus know that these applications are not threats, and it will allow them to operate as normal. In this way, you can play Dead Island 2 without crashing while keeping your antivirus running.

This is how you add exceptions in Windows Defender Firewall:

1. Reach Windows Security by following the previous steps.
2. In Windows Security, click on Virus & Threat Protection to open a new window.
3. Here, locate Virus & Threat Protection and click on Manage Settings under it.
4. Now, locate the Exclusions section by scrolling to the bottom of the window.
5. In the Exclusions section, click on add or remove exclusions. You will need admin privileges for this.
6. Now you can click on add an exclusion to add both Dead Island 2 and Epic Games to the exclusions list.

Likewise, add Dead Island 2 and Epic Games as an exclusion to any other antivirus software on your PC.

Use Your Dedicated GPU

Even though this is not very common, you should still check this off the list. Your PC might have 2 GPUs, one integrated and the other dedicated. Most desktop PCs and laptops have an integrated GPU that usually comes with the motherboard. Of course, this secondary GPU is not very strong and cannot run games like Dead Island 2. This is why the crashes could be attributed to Dead Island 2 possibly utilizing the integrated GPU rather than the primary dedicated one.

Follow these steps to force an application to use your dedicated GPU:

1. Right-click anywhere on your desktop and select display settings.
2. Go to the bottom of the window and select Graphic Settings.
3. In graphics performance preference, select Desktop App and then click on Browse. You will need to select the Dead Island 2 application and add it here.
4. Once added, click on options and select High Performance. This will force Dead Island 2 to utilize your main GPU.

Disable In-Game Overlays

Getting rid of in-game overlays can take away a lot of the stress from your PC. If your PC is struggling to run Dead Island 2, the last thing it wants is unnecessary background activity that it needs to process. For an average gamer, most of these in-game overlays are unnecessary and provide nothing of use. So it is a good idea to disable them and save a lot of processing power for your PC, which can be used to run Dead Island 2 instead.

The Xbox Game Bar features one of the most commonly used in-game overlays, as they are enabled by default on most Windows PCs. Similarly, Discord is another popular application that offers unnecessary overlays that the majority of the players use without being aware of it. It is recommended that you disable both of them and any other application running in-game overlays.

Follow these steps to disable the Xbox Game Bar:

1. Access the start menu by pressing the Windows button on your keyboard.
2. Click on the gear icon and open Windows settings.
3. In settings, click on Gaming to access the Xbox Game Bar section.
4. Here, Set the Xbox Game Bar to off.

To disable Discord overlays, follow these steps:

1. Launch Discord and click on the gear icon next to your profile to access the settings.
2. Now scroll down until you find the Activity settings section, and then click on Game Overlays.
3. Toggle the enable in-game overlay option to off and save your changes.

Get Rid Of Fullscreen Optimization

By default, Windows 10 enables fullscreen optimization, which keeps your game running in a borderless fullscreen mode. Fullscreen optimization is supposed to improve the performance of your game and offer a smooth gameplay experience. But the feature does not work as intended, as it causes various performance problems instead. Many players have reported experiencing frame drops and crashing issues with fullscreen optimization enabled.  

Therefore, fullscreen optimization could be the underlying cause of Dead Island 2 crashing on startup or during other instances. You should disable fullscreen optimization. Here is how to do it:

1. Right-click on the Dead Island 2 application and select properties from the list of options.
2. In properties, switch to the compatibility tab.
3. Check the option that says Disable fullscreen optimizations.
4. Click on Apply to save the changes.

Lower Graphic Settings

If none of the solutions have worked for you so far, the culprit could likely be your PC’s inability to run Dead Island 2. Even if you meet the game’s minimum hardware requirements, running it on high or medium graphic settings may still be challenging. This is due to various factors, like the quality of your hardware or possible dust build-up inside your PC. 

Because of this, you have no choice but to lower and optimize the in-game graphic settings as much as possible. As a general rule of thumb, you should make anti-aliasing, and the shadow effects low. During gameplay, these two elements are likely to have a minimal noticeable impact, yet they consume a decent amount of processing power from your PC.

You can lower the remaining settings according to your personal preference. Make sure to lower them as necessary so that you can have a captivating gameplay experience while preserving the visual quality without excessive compromise. 

Did The Dead Island 2 Crashing Problem Stop?

Dead Island 2 is a recent game with stunning graphics. Because of that, a few crashing issues were inevitable, especially on low-end systems. Nevertheless, we are confident that you will be able to fix all types of crashes if you follow the methods mentioned in this Dead Island 2 guide whether it’s the Dead Island 2 crashing on startup issue or crashing in the inventor menu. Now that you can play the game without any problems, make sure to learn about the agility stat to get a headstart.

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