Resident Evil 4 Fatal D3D Error [Fixed]

Resident Evil 4 Remake has been a stunning release, with great visuals, amazing mechanics, and pretty good optimization. However, every new release does have its share of bugs and glitches, and the Resident Evil 4 remake is no exception. The playerbase for the game has been encountering the Resident Evil 4 fatal D3D error since launch and doesn’t know exactly what to do.

What is Resident Evil 4 Remake Fatal D3D Error? 

D3D error in Resident Evil 4 Remake means that the game has failed to launch with Microsoft Direct 3D. This is a native Windows graphics application programming interface that every game needs to run. When Direct 3D fails to launch alongside your game, in this case, RE4 Remake, it will display this error. 

When you encounter this error message, several possibilities can occur. Either the game will crash on the desktop, become unresponsive to your controls, or, surprisingly, run normally with few dips in FPS. 

Luckily, this error is quite easy to fix, and all you need to do is follow our error guide below!

Verify Resident Evil 4 Remake System Requirements

Capcom has definitely nailed their game’s optimization, especially in this line of great remakes of classics. Resident Evil 4 Remake is no exception, as the game runs well, even on minimum-spec-ed PCs. However, you still need a PC that can run the game; otherwise, you’ll have issues like Resident Evil 4 fatal D3D error. 

Verify Game Files Through Steam

There are various reasons why your Resident Evil 4 remake’s game files could become corrupt or missing, leading to numerous errors and even crashes. Fortunately, Steam allows you to verify the integrity of your game files and replace any corrupted or missing ones with fresh ones – keeping your game running smoothly without any hassle! Let’s take a closer look at how.

1. First, open Steam by searching for it in the Windows search bar or double-clicking its icon in the taskbar at the bottom right.
2. Once opened, locate Resident Evil 4 Remake from your games library, right-click it, and go to its properties page.

3. After opening RE4’s properties, go to the “Local Files” tab from the menu on the left.
4. Here, select the “Verify Integrity of Game Files” option to start the process.

Depending on the speed of your storage device, this process could take anywhere from a few minutes to several. Once started, just sit back and let Steam repair the game’s files for you. Upon completion, if Steam detects any damaged or missing files within the RE4 Remake installation folder, it will automatically download them and replace them in their place. With any luck, now that everything is fixed, just start the game again to test it out!

Adjust Your Graphics Settings

Another fix that has helped several people solve Resident Evil 4 fatal D3D error is reducing the in-game graphics settings. Players have discovered that this fatal error mostly occurs on PCs that have the VRAM usage maxed out, and the game ultimately crashes immediately or after a few minutes in-game.

If you’re facing a similar scenario, you might want to try lowering some of your settings; here’s how: 

Here are a few graphics settings that you might want to lower if you want to solve this D3D error: 

• Turn the Texture Quality to Low or Mid
• Switch Mesh Quality to Mid
• Lower Shadow Quality to Low
• Turn Off the Contact Shadows
• Lower the Volumetric Lighting to Low
• Turn off Screen Space Reflections (SSR)
• Use the FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 in Balanced Mode
• Disable all Ray-Tracing Options

You can configure other settings to your preference. If you want to avoid Resident Evil 4 Remake fatal D3D error, you’ll have to use the configuration mentioned above.

Update Your GPU Drivers

The process of updating Your GPU drivers is essential not just to improve RE4 Remake’s performance but to remove any pesky errors and bugs, too. The most recent drivers from Nvidia or AMD, respectively, provide many improvements and bug fixes for RE4. So, you’ll have to make sure to update your GPU drivers to the latest version.

Here’s how:

Update Nvidia GPU Drivers

To verify if you have driver updates for your GPU, open up the Nvidia Geforce Experience Application on your desktop. Here’s how to do it:

1. You can open the GeForce Experience App either from the taskbar on the bottom right or by searching for it in the Windows Search.

2. When Geforce Experience is open, you can go into”Driver” under the “Driver” tab. It will lead you to the driver update section.
3. If driver updates are available for your Nvidia GPU, you can continue downloading them here.
4. Once downloaded, click on Express Installation to quickly update your GPU drivers.
5. If there aren’t any GPU driver updates, you can simply click “Check for Updates.”

Once you have successfully installed the latest Nvidia GPU drivers, reboot your PC to complete the installation. With our best Nvidia Control Panel settings guide, you can also tune your driver to improve Resident Evil 4 Remake’s performance. 

Update AMD GPU Drivers

AMD releases significant GPU updates nearly every month. The updated driver includes significant enhancements to performance and improvements for the latest games, such as Resident Evil 4 Remake. So, let’s update your AMD Drivers. Let’s begin with this AMD setting guide by updating the driver on the GPU you have installed first.

1. Type “AMD Adrenaline” in the Windows search bar, and open the second link.
2. Alternatively, right-click on your desktop and launch the AMD Control Panel.
3. Go to “Drivers & Software” in AMD settings and select “Check for Updates.”
4. If your software is up-to-date, you’ll be notified. If not, you can install the latest drivers.
5. If prompted to install, download the drivers and click “Install.”
6. Follow the AMD tool for installation guidance.

After you’re done, simply reboot your PC. This will finish your AMD GPU driver setup on your computer. If you want to alter your drivers further to boost RE4 Remake’s performance, read the AMD best settings guide.

You’ve now successfully installed the latest AMD as well as Nvidia drivers. Try starting up Resident Evil 4 Remake to see whether you’re experiencing a crash again. If not, then updating your drivers has done the trick. In the meantime, keep following for further fixes. 

Terminate Background Programs

Windows is among the most robust Operating Systems available for consumers. It’s typically running various background processes and tasks at any time. Some of these processes can cause problems for games and apps, which may be the reason behind the Resident Evil 4 Remake’s fatal D3D error. You could try blocking these unneeded processes to resolve the problem. Here’s how:

1. First, open the Task Manager by hitting the shortcut keys CTRL+SHIFT+ESC. 

2. When the Task Manager is opened, you’ll notice many running processes in the background and the foreground.
3. If you decide a particular process is unneeded, right-click it and choose End Task.
4. Repeat this procedure until you’ve eliminated all unnecessary background applications.

This will allow you to rid your computer of applications and processes that were draining your CPU and RAM or causing instability for RE4 Remake. But as they run in the background, you’ll have to manually shut down some apps, such as Slack, Discord, Skype, Spotify, MSI Afterburner, and others. Just go to the taskbar at the bottom right and start the process of closing all applications you do not require.

Whitelist Resident Evil 4 Remake in Your Antivirus

Antivirus software guards your computer but can cause false positives that remove or restrict game files, leading to errors in Resident Evil 4 Remake. To troubleshoot, first disable your Antivirus and play RE4 Remake for 10 minutes to check for errors. If none occur, the Antivirus is the issue.

Instead of disabling it, adjust your Antivirus settings and whitelist RE4 Remake’s installation folder to prevent interference with the game’s files.

You can check out more tweaks in our complete Windows Optimization guides and settings for gaming.

Did We Help Solve Resident Evil 4 Fatal D3D Error For You?

We’ve addressed every possible fix there is to resolve Resident Evil 4 fatal D3D error for now. Since the game was just released, the developers have not received an official word. Albeit, taking their track record into consideration, I’m sure they’ll be fixing this error with a patch soon enough.

If you’ve successfully solved this error and are looking to level up your gameplay, check out eXputer’s coverage of Resident Evil 4’s Remake guides.