Fix: Assassins Creed Odyssey Crashing at Startup and Won’t Launch

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is an action role-playing adventure game developed by Ubisoft Quebec and published by Ubisoft in 2018. It is available on multiple platforms, including Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. The game has received positive ratings on Steam for the PC version; however, some players have encountered issues such as the game crashing at startup or failing to launch. If you’re experiencing similar problems, follow the troubleshooting guide below.

As the 11th major installment in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey follows the 2017 release of Assassin’s Creed Origins. Despite its broad user base and impressive graphics and gameplay, the game does have some bugs and errors that can detract from the overall experience. If you’re facing issues like graphical glitches or a black screen, this article can help.

Before diving into the troubleshooting steps, ensure that your PC meets the game’s system requirements. Additionally, verify that your Windows operating system and GPU drivers are updated to the latest versions. Also, check that both your game and client versions are running the latest patches. Now, let’s get started.

Why Does Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Keep Crashing?

It appears that your PC has several issues that could cause the game to crash during launch. Let’s examine some potential problems:

1. Your PC configuration may not meet the minimum requirements to run the game.

2. There might be a pending Windows OS update.

3. Your graphics driver could be outdated.

4. Game files may be corrupted or missing.

5. Overlay applications may be running in the background.

6. Windows Firewall or any antivirus program might be blocking the game.

By addressing these issues, you can improve your chances of successfully launching the game.

Minimum System Requirements:

• OS: Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64bit versions only)
• Processor: AMD FX 6300 @ 3.8 GHz, Ryzen 3 – 1200, Intel Core i5 2400 @ 3.1 GHz
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: AMD Radeon R9 285, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 (2GB VRAM with Shader Model 5.0)
• DirectX: Version 11
• Storage: 46+ GB available space
• Additional Notes: Video Preset: Lowest (720p)

Recommended System Requirements:

• OS: Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64bit versions only)
• Processor: AMD FX-8350 @ 4.0 GHz, Ryzen 5 – 1400, Intel Core i7-3770 @ 3.5 GHz or better
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: AMD Radeon R9 290, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (4GB VRAM with Shader Model 5.0) or better
• Storage: 46+ GB available space
• Additional Notes: Video Preset: High (1080p)

Assassins Creed Odyssey Crashing at Startup or Not Loading: How to Fix

Now, let’s jump into the steps below without wasting any more time. Remember that both the Nvidia and AMD graphics drivers are well-optimized for the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey game. So, if in case, you haven’t updated your graphics driver yet, do this first.

1. Update Graphics Drivers

If you’re using an Nvidia graphics card, update the GeForce Experience app on your PC from the Nvidia official site here. But if you’re using an AMD graphics card on your system, update the latest AMD Drivers from here.

2. Disable Steam Overlay

• Open Steam on your Windows.
• Head over to the Settings > Click on the In-Game option.
• Click on the checkbox to disable “Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game“.
• Once the checkbox mark is removed, click on OK.

3. Adjust Discord Settings

• Launch Discord > Click on User Settings.
• Select Voice & Video from the left sidebar.
• Scroll down a bit and click on the Advanced.
• Next, disable the OpenH264 Video Codec provided by Cisco System, Inc.
• Then disable Enable Quality of Service High Packet Priority.
• Now, go to Overlay.
• You can also turn off the in-game overlay.
• Next, head over to Appearance.
• Go to Advanced.
• Disable Hardware Acceleration.
• Once done, restart the system.

4. Adjust Nvidia Control Panel Settings

• Click on Adjust image settings with preview under 3D settings.
• Select Use the advanced 3D image settings.
• Next, launch the Nvidia Control Panel.
• Click on Manage 3D settings > Go to Global Settings.
• Additionally, you can also adjust some of the other options:
  • Disable Image Sharpening
  • Enable Threaded Optimization
  • Use Maximum Performance for Power Management
  • Turn off Low Latency Mode
  • Set Texture Filtering Quality to Performance mode

5. Change AMD Control Panel Settings

• Go to Global Graphics.
  • Turn off Radeon Anti-Lag
  • Turn off Radeon Boost
  • Use Application settings for Anti-Aliasing Mode
  • Set Anti-aliasing Method to Multi-sampling
  • Turn off Morphological Filtering
  • Disable Image Sharpening
  • Turn off Anisotropic Filtering
  • Use Performance mode for Texture Filtering Quality
  • You can also enable Surface Format Optimization
  • AMD Optimization for the Tesselation Mode
  • Wait for V-sync – Turn it off
  • Use AMD optimization for the Shader Cache
  • Disable OpenGL Triple Buffering
  • Turn off Maximum Tesselation Level
  • Set Graphics for the GPU Workload
  • Turn off the Radeon Chill
  • Disable Frame Rate Target Control

6. Verify Game Files via Steam Client

The Assassin’s Creed Odyssey gamers on Steam can follow the below steps:

• Open the Steam Library by logging into the account
• You can find the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey game here
• Right-click on the game and click on Properties
• Select the Local Files tab
• Then click on Verify Integrity of Game Files
• Wait for the process and then restart the game to check whether the issue has been fixed or not

7. Uninstall Recent Windows 10 Update

A couple of days ago, Microsoft has released a new update for Windows 10 with KB4535996. So, this particular cumulative update for Windows 10 is quite buggy and causing so many errors or problems.

• Go to Start menu > Click on Settings
• Next, go to Update and Security
• Click on View update history
• Now, if you can see that there is an update having KB4535996 has been already installed. Make sure to uninstall it.
• Here you will see Uninstall updates option on the top of the page.
• Click on it and select the mentioned cumulative update version.
• Right-click on it > Select Uninstall.
• It may take some time to delete that update and your system may restart automatically.
• Have some patience and you can also manually reboot your Windows PC (if required).

8. Remove Temporary Files

• Press Windows key + R on your keyboard to open the RUN program.
• Now, type %temp% and press enter
• You will get a bunch of temporary files on a page.
• Select all files by pressing Ctrl + A on the keyboard.
  Next, press Shift + Delete on the keyboard to remove all the files.
• Some times some of the temporary files can’t be deleted. So, leave them as it is and close it.

9. Set Default CPU and Graphics Speed

Many users seek ultra-high performance from their CPU and GPU right from the first day of use. As a result, they often opt for overclocked versions or manually increase the overclocking speed themselves. If you have overclocked your GPU and are now experiencing issues such as bottlenecks, lagging, or crashes, we recommend reverting to the default settings.

You can use tools like MSI Afterburner or Zotac Firestorm to lower the clock speed. After making the adjustments, try running Assassin’s Creed Odyssey to see if the issue has been resolved.

We hope this guide has been helpful to you. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below.