Fix: The Ascent Crashing/Not launching on PC

The Ascent is a much-awaited action-shooter RPG that comes with a solo and co-op multiplayer mode, set in a cyberpunk world. Although the title is much optimized for the Windows version, it seems that plenty of players are getting affected by The Ascent Crashing/Not launching issue on PC. If you’re also facing the same problem then make sure to follow this troubleshooting guide.

This is not a new case for PC games because most PC users may experience such kinds of startup crashes or not launching issues multiple times in their lifetime for sure with several game titles. In that context, it’s also worth mentioning that the problem may appear on the Windows computer due to several reasons that we’ve mentioned below.

Why The Ascent Keeps Crashing on Startup?

In most scenarios, the chances are high enough that due to a hardware compatibility issue, PC games refuse to run properly or start crashing. So, it’s always recommended to check whether your PC configuration is capable enough to run the particular game or not. Whereas sometimes an outdated graphics drivers, outdated Windows OS build, etc.

Meanwhile, it may also be possible that a recently installed Windows update (buggy) can also trigger such issues. Additionally, make sure to check out whether there is an issue with the DirectX version, corrupted or missing game files, overclocked CPU/GPU, issues with the third-party overlay apps, background running tasks, etc causing the not launching or crashing issue with your PC games.

Fix: The Ascent Crashing/Not launching on PC

Now, without wasting any more time, let’s jump into the guide below.

1. Check System Requirements

Now, first of all, check out whether your PC configuration is compatible with the system requirements of the Scarlet Nexus game or not.

Minimum System Requirements

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 10 x64
• Processor: Intel Core Intel Core i5-3470 (4 * 3200) or equivalent / AMD FX-8350 (4 * 4000) or equivalent
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: GeForce GTX 660 ( 2048 MB) / Radeon R9 390X (8192 MB)
• Storage: 35 GB available space

Recommended System Requirements

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 10 x64
• Processor: Intel Core i9-9900k (8 * 3600) or equivalent /AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (8 * 3600) or equivalent
• Memory: 16 GB RAM
• Graphics: Geforce RTX 2070 (2304 MB) / Radeon RX 5700 XT
• Storage: 35 GB available space

2. Run the game as an Administrator

It may possible that somehow your PC game isn’t running with the user admin access and that’s why the system (user account control) is preventing the program from running properly. So, just give a full-fledged admin access to the program for sure. To do so:

• Right-click on The Ascent exe shortcut file on your PC.
• Now, select Properties > Click on the Compatibility tab.

• Make sure to click on the Run this program as an administrator checkbox to checkmark it.
• Then click on Apply and select OK to save changes.
• Once done, you can try running The Ascent game to check whether it’s running or not.

3. Update Windows OS Build

The chances are high that somehow you’re using an outdated Windows OS build for some time and it’s basically triggering unwanted problems with your games or programs while launching them. If you’re also feeling the same thing then make sure to follow the steps below.

• Press Windows + I keys to open up the Windows Settings menu.
• Next, click on Update & Security > Select Check for updates under the Windows Update section.

• If there is a feature update available, select Download and install.
• Wait for some time until the update gets completed.
• Finally, reboot your PC to apply changes immediately.

4. Update GPU Drivers

Well, an outdated graphics card driver can also cause multiple issues with the game launching on your Windows PC that can be fixed quite easily by checking for the graphics driver updates. To do that:

• Press Windows + X keys to open the Quick Start Menu.
• Now, click on Device Manager from the list > Double-click on Display adapters.
• Right-click on the dedicated graphics card that you’re using.

• Next, select Update driver > Choose to Search automatically for drivers.
• If there is an update available, it’ll automatically download & install the latest version.
• Once done, restart the system to apply changes, and check if that fixes the issue.

5. Update the Game

It’s needless to say that an outdated game version can cause multiple issues with the performance and occurs several errors too. You should always check for the game updates from the Steam client on your PC.

• Open the Steam client > Go to the Library of games.
• Here, you need to click on The Ascent game to select it from the left sidebar.
• Once the game launching interface will appear, check whether an Update button is showing in the blue color or not.
• If it’s showing, click on it, wait for the latest patch update to be installed completely.
• Once done, click on the Play button in the green color.
• You’re good to go.

6. Close Unnecessary Background Tasks

In most cases, a couple of unnecessary third-party background running tasks can also cause multiple issues with the system performance. To reduce the CPU/memory usage all the time in the background, it’s highly recommended to close background running tasks by following the steps below:

• Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys to open up the Task Manager.
• Now, click on the Processes tab > Click to select the task that’s unnecessarily running in the background and consuming enough system resources.

• Click on End Task to close the task.
• Do the same thing for every unnecessary task to close. [Do not close system-related tasks which are important]
• Once all is done, restart your computer to check if the startup crashing issue appearing again or not.

7. Verify Integrity of Game Files

It’s another most common reason behind startup crashing or not launching issues with the PC games. Corrupted or missing game files on the PC may start causing problems with the existing game files and conflict with the system to run properly. It’s always better to simply check for game integrity and repairing them automatically from the game launcher directly. To do this:

• Open the Steam client on your PC.
• Click on Library > Right-click on The Ascent from the installed games list.
• Now, click on Properties > Go to Local Files.

• Here you’ll have to click on Verify Integrity of Game Files.
• You’ll have to wait for the process until it gets completed.
• Once done, make sure to restart your computer, and re-open the Steam client to run the game again.

8. Install the latest Visual C++ Redistributables

Make sure to download and install the latest Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables on your Windows computer to keep things flawless in every aspect. You can grab it here. Sometimes even if you’ve installed the Visual C++ Redistributables on your PC, the chances are high that it becomes outdated.

9. Disable Steam and Nvidia GeForce Experience Overlay

Plenty of third-party overlay applications are available that plenty of PC gamers use while playing games online for streaming, recording, chatting with friends, and more. Although overlay apps are quite useful, they can also ruin your gameplay experience by always running in the background.

So, we’ll recommend you disable most of the overlay apps on your computer before launching games to check if that helps to resolve The Ascent Crashing/Not launching on PC or not.

Disable Steam Overlay

• Open the Steam client > Go to Library.
• Now, right-click on The Ascent > Select Properties.
• From the General section, make sure to uncheck the ‘Enable Steam Overlay’ checkbox.
• Go back to Library and re-open Scarlet Nexus to see if you’re still getting the crashing issue or not.

Disable GeForce Experience Overlay

• Open the Nvidia GeForce Experience app > Click on the Gear icon on the top-right corner.
• From the General section, turn off the In-Game Overlay option.
• Finally, launch Steam, and re-open The Ascent game to see if the problem is still bothering you or not.

10. Use DirectX 11 to run The Ascent

It may possible that The Ascent game isn’t compatible with DirectX 12 as of now. That’s it’s recommended to run the game with DirectX 11 forcefully on the computer by following the steps below:

• Launch the Steam client > Go to LIBRARY.
• Now, right-click on The Ascent > Select Properties.
• From the GENERAL section, make sure to type -dx11 under LAUNCH OPTIONS.
• Once done, go back, and run the game normally.

This method will run the specific game forcefully with DirectX 11 every time you launch it on Steam.

11. Disable Grain, Depth Of Field, Post-Process Effects

• Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Copy the following path and paste it to the Run dialog box field. Then hit Enter to open it:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\TheAscent\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor

• Now, open the file called Engine.ini in Notepad.
• Then add the following lines and save the file to disable movie/film grain.

[SystemSettings]

r.Tonemapper.Quality=3

r.Tonemapper.GrainQuantization=0

• Add the following lines to the Engine.ini file and save it to disable Depth of Field:

[SystemSettings]

r.DepthOfFieldQuality=0

• If you want to disable all of them, then make sure to add all of them together like below:

[SystemSettings]
r.SceneColorFringeQuality=0
r.Tonemapper.Quality=3
r.Tonemapper.GrainQuantization=0
r.DepthOfFieldQuality=0

• Once the file is saved, launch the game, and check for the issue.

12. Disable Antivirus and Firewall Program

By disabling the security programs on your Windows computer, it’s expected that most of the game launching or startup crashing issues will be fixed completely. To do that:

• Click on the Start menu > Type Control Panel and click on it.
• Now, type firewall in the search box > Click on Windows Firewall.
• From the left pane, click on Turn Windows Firewall on or off.
• Make sure to select Turn off Windows Firewall for the Private and Public Network Settings.
• Finally, reboot the PC to apply changes, and try checking the issue.

Now, you’ll have to disable the anti-virus protection (Windows Defender) as well by following the steps below:

• Head over to the Windows Settings > Privacy and Security.
• Now, go to Windows Security > Virus & threat protection.
• Click on Manage settings >Then turn off the Real-time Protection option.
• Once done, make sure to reboot your PC to check for The Ascent Crashing/Not launching on the PC.

13. Perform a Clean Boot

Some affected Steam users have also mentioned that they’ve fixed the startup crashing or not launching issue with The Ascent game by simply doing a clean boot on their PC. To do this:

• Press Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Now, type msconfig and hit Enter to open the System Configuration window.
• Go to the Services tab > Enable the Hide all Microsoft services checkbox.

• Check all the services from the list and click on Disable all.
• Click on Apply and then OK to save changes.
• Now, click on the Startup tab > Click on Open Task Manager.

• Under the Startup tab from the Task Manager interface, click on the particular tasks which are enabled for startup boot > Click on Disable.
• Make sure to select and disable one by one.
• Once done, restart your PC to apply changes.

14. Uninstall the latest Windows update

It seems that the recent Windows update brings a couple of bugs or stability issues that plenty of users start experiencing. Luckily, you can go back to the previous version of the Windows OS build or just exclude the recently installed patch update by following the steps below:

• Go to Start menu > Click on Settings.
• Go to Update and Security > Click on View update history.
• You can see a cumulative update called KB2565063 which has been already installed. Just make sure to uninstall it directly from there.
• Click on the Uninstall updates option and select the particular version (KB2565063).
• Now, right-click on it and select Uninstall.
• It may take some time to roll back the installed update and your computer will restart automatically.
• Just wait for it to reboot and you should be able to run The Ascent game without the startup crashing or not launching issue.

15. Disable Overclocking

It’s needless to say that most hardcore or advanced PC gamers always prefer to have unleashed gaming experience all the time and that’s why mostly overlock CPU/GPU clock speed manually. In most cases, it may turn out that the PC games are getting affected due to this reason.

So, we’ll recommend you to temporarily disable overclocking by using some popular and reliable tools like MSI Afterburner or Zotac Firestorm application to check if that helps or not. Setting the clock speed at a factory default state will also help you to play games without any kind of lags, stutters, bottlenecking issues most probably.

16. Reinstall The Ascent

If in case, none of the methods worked for you, then try uninstalling and reinstalling The Ascent game on your PC by following the steps below. Sometimes it may possible that even after updating the game to the latest patch version, there can be some corrupted or missing files on the computer which will basically cause game launching or gameplay issues.

• Launch the Steam client on your computer.
• Now, go to Library > Right-click on The Ascent game.
• Head over to Manage > Select Uninstall.
• If prompted, click on Uninstall again and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the uninstallation process.
• Once done, make sure to reboot your computer to apply changes immediately.
• Next, run the Steam launcher again > Search for The Ascent game by using your existing Steam account.
• Finally, download and install it on your computer again.
• Enjoy!

That’s it, guys. We hope you’ve found this guide helpful. For further queries, you can comment below.