How to fix Second Extinction Crash at launch on PC (Steam)

Second Extinction Crash at launch
Second Extinction Screenshot

Second Extinction is a three-player cooperative shooter developed and published by Systemic Reaction. The game is now available on Steam as an early access title, and players can jump in and give the developers feedback. If you are running into the Second Extinction Crash at launch issue, here are a few things you can try to fix it.

The game has Mostly Positive reviews on Steam right now, and around 1500 players are currently playing it at the time of writing.

Second Extinction Crash at launch

A few players are getting a crash at launch, and here are a few things you can try to fix that, get the game running.

Fix 1: Delete Settings file

  • Head over to the following location if you are getting a black screen
C:\Users\USERNAME\Saved Games\Avalanche Studios\Second Extinction
  • Delete the settings.json file

Fix 2: Update your GPU Drivers

Make sure you are on the latest versions of your GPU drivers. You can download these from the links below

FIX 3: DOWNLOAD REDISTRIBUTABLE PACKAGES

  • Head over to the following website, and scroll down when you see the option to download the redistributable packages
  • Click on either x86 or x64 depending on your system
  • This will download the setup file for you
  • Simply install this, and restart your PC

FIX 4: UPDATE DIRECTX

  • Head over to the following link
  • First, open the “DXSETUP” in the directory the game is installed
  • If it is present, simply run the  “DXSETUP.exe”, and install DirectX
  • If the folder isn’t present, head over to the following website, and download the installer
  • Install DirectX and relaunch the game (You may need to restart the PC once)

Fix 5: Make sure Vulkan API is installed

The game requires Vulkan, and while it does come with driver updates now, you can follow the guides below if you don’t have it

Fix 6: Verify integrity of game files:

  • Head into your Steam Library
  • Right-click on Second Extinction and select “Properties”
  • Select the “LOCAL FILES” tab and click on the “VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME FILES…”
  • Start the game

One of these methods should work for you. If nothing works, try contacting the developers through the official forums, or Steam discussions.

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