Fix: CS:GO Fatal Error Loading Vertex Shader

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is an online first-person shooter multiplayer video game by Valve that has been launched back in 2012 and still considered one of the popular competitive shooter titles in the gaming community. Although there are multiple errors or bugs that can be found, recently players are facing CS:GO Fatal Error Loading Vertex Shader.

Plenty of affected players have started reporting that the CS:GO game crashes and it shows an error notice something like “fatal error loading vertex shader”. This particular issue is happening to the Windows 10 users whatsoever and they’re unable to quickly resolve such an issue. Luckily, here we’ve shared a couple of possible workarounds that should help you out.

Fix: CS:GO Fatal Error Loading Vertex Shader

The chances are high enough that your installed game files are either corrupted or missing due to some unexpected reasons. If so, the recommended thing is to do simply repairing the installed game files from the Steam client automatically to easily fix the potential issues or glitches.

Sometimes even a missing or an outdated GPU driver on your Windows system can also cause several issues with the gaming performance or launching the game properly. Meanwhile, problems with the launch options in Steam can also occur with multiple errors.

Additionally, some users have also reported that installing the Steam client and CS:GO on a new PC can cause this particular problem. Sometimes a corrupted game shader file inside the installed CS:GO directory can also occur the specific error. So, without getting further ado, let’s jump into the guide below.

1. Verify Integrity of Game Files

First of all, you should try verifying the integrity of game files on the Steam client to cross-check whether the files are missing/corrupted or not. If so, the Steam launcher will try fixing it out automatically without doing additional methods. To do so:

Open the Steam client on your computer.
Now, click on Library > Right-click on CS:GO from the left pane.
Click on Properties > Go to Local Files.
Select Verify integrity of game files…
Wait for the process to complete and then select restart your computer to apply changes.
Finally, you’ll be able to run the game without any issue.

However, if the problem still bothering you, try following another method.

2. Change CS:GO Launch Options

Some CS:GO players have reported that they can disable the HTML MOTDs by changing the launch options for CS:GO which may fix the Fatal Error Loading Vertex Shader. To do this:

Open the Steam launcher > Click on Library.
Right-click on the CS:GO game from the left pane.
Click on the Properties option > From the General section, go to Launch options.
Now, right-click on ‘cl_disablehtmlmotd 1’ to disable the HTML MOTDs.
Close the option and then check whether the problem has been fixed or not.
Enjoy!

3. Uninstall and Reinstall CS:GO

For a couple of affected players, the simple process of uninstalling and reinstalling the CS:GO game is the most useful way to fix the particular fatal error. We’ll highly recommend you deleting all of the game files and reinstalling them freshly on your PC should prevent the error. To do that:

Open the Steam client > Go to Library.
Now, right-click on the CS:GO game title, and head over to Manage.
Click on Uninstall > Next, click on Uninstall again to proceed.
Let the process be completed and then reboot your PC to apply changes.
Keep in mind that the Steam client or the CS:GO game isn’t running in the background. To ensure it, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys to open up the Task Manager > Go to Processes > Click on the Steam and CS:GO task individually > Click on End Task.
Finally, open Steam again > Install CS:GO properly.

This method should help you to fix the CS:GO Fatal Error Loading Vertex Shader issue completely. If this method doesn’t fix the problem, try following the next one.

4. Update Graphics Driver

Try updating the graphics driver on your computer to check whether the problem is happening due to the missing/outdated GPU driver or not. Sometimes an outdated or missing GPU driver can cause several performance-related issues on the Windows computer whatsoever. To check for updates and install the latest available GPU driver update:

Right-click on the Start Menu icon from the bottom left corner of the Taskbar.
Now, click on Device Manager from the list.
Double-click on the Display adapters option to expand the list.
Next, right-click on the dedicated or integrated GPU card.
Then select Update driver > Choose to Search automatically for drivers.
If there is an update available for the GPU driver, it’ll automatically download & install the update.
Let the process be completed. Once done, make sure to reboot your PC to apply changes.

5. Delete Shader File

Well, it looks like plenty of CS:GO players have mentioned that the loading vertex shader error can be fixed by simply deleting the ‘weapondecal_vs30’ file. This can be a problematic file for some players whatsoever irrespective of the missing or corrupted game files. To do this:

First of all, locate the CS:GO folder placed in the drive. [It should be like: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Counter-Strike Global Offensive\platform\shaders\fxc]
Next, you’ll have to delete the file name called ‘weapondecal_vs30’ by right-clicking on it.
Once deleted the file, open the Steam client > Go to Library > Right-click on the CS:GO game > Go to Properties > Select Local Files > Click on Verify integrity of game files… > Let the process be completed and then reboot your PC to apply changes.
This method should fix the CS:GO Fatal Error Loading Vertex Shader issue on your Steam client easily.

That’s it, guys. We hope this guide was helpful to you. For further queries, let us know in the comment below.