Horizon Zero Dawn is now available on Steam for PC and despite expectations, the game is plagued with bugs and crashes. Most of the players experience problems even if they have a high-end PC. However, Guerrilla Games is now trying to control the situation. Until then, we have gathered some of the most common issues that you can solve on your own in Horizon Zero Dawn on PC, including crashes, low performance, and stuck downloading.
Horizon Zero Dawn PC Crashes on Startup
Crashes on startup are usually caused by external sources such as non-updated drivers or low specifications. Check if your hardware meets the minimum recommendations. Next, check if your GPU drivers are updated and finish the update if necessary. Then, make sure you’re running the correct C++ distributable version. Download the right one and reinstall it if you continue to have problems.
Players on Steam have reported that disabling the Steam overlay during their gameplay is also fixing the problem. Open the Steam client and navigate to Steam > Settings / Preferences > In-game tab. Uncheck the box next to Enable Steam Overlay while playing.
cinematic stutter
Players report that there are also issues with the opening cinematic for Horizon Zero Dawn on Steam. This includes crashes, loops, and low performance. There is no clear solution to this issue and Guerrilla Games should investigate it now. What you can try is to verify the game files and start the game with administrator rights. Also, try disabling anisotropic filtering as it is causing problems right now and whitelist Horizon Zero Dawn from your firewall and anti-virus program.
low performance / low fps / glitches
Horizon Zero Dawn on PC is a disappointing port, that’s for sure. However, there are some fixes that you can try to reduce stuttering and performance while playing. Your best bet is to play with the graphics settings and see which of them top up your FPS and don’t affect your resolution. If they’re not making it better, check your GPU drivers for any updates.
game not starting
If Horizon Zero Dawn doesn’t open when you launch it, the first thing you want to do is run it with administrator rights. If this doesn’t solve the problem, whitelist the game on your anti-virus or firewall program and try again. Last but not least, check whether you meet the minimum requirements and whether you have the correct version of DirectX and C++ Visual Studio distribution.
Anisotropic Filtering not working
There are many issues with anisotropic filtering right now and there is no clear solution. Guerrilla has released a list of known issues and this is one of them. The studio promises to resolve the matter as soon as possible. Until then, you can choose the default setting and you shouldn’t have any problems.
Downloading Stuck
If your download is stuck at a certain point, you should start with the basics. Restart your router and check your connection speed. If this is not the problem then stop and resume the download or delete the game and if the problem continues then start it once again.
If you are facing more problems than the ones mentioned above, please give Guerrilla some time to resolve them. We know bad ports are a problem for everyone, but this problem won’t last forever. Most of the issues should be fixed within the next few days.
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