How To Fix The Red Dead Redemption 2 Launch Error
Still got the Red Dead Redemption 2 Launch Error? Here's how to fix it
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If you find yourself struggling to play some RDR2 on PC, here’s how to fix the Red Dead Redemption 2 launch error. Back when the game first released to PC after a year of console gamers’ enjoyment, many players were frustrated by the “Red Dead Redemption 2 Exited Unexpectedly” error message upon booting the game. It didn’t matter if you had the strongest gaming PC ready for action or not.
READ NOW: Best gaming laptop for Red Dead Redemption 2
In the off chance you still run into this problem even today, we’re going to talk about some of the possible fixes to help you out. It’s time to get your hands on RDR2 on PC and dispose of this pesky launch error today. Continue reading for all of the details.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Troubleshooting
Hoping we’d be part of the lucky few that could launch the game, we freed up some space, downloaded the whopping 112GB cowboy simulator, and excitedly hit play. We were not part of the lucky few. Following the instructions posted on Rockstar’s website (and many of the suggestions on Reddit) brought us no closer to the long-awaited Wild West.
Some Reddit posters found success in updating their motherboard’s BIOS/UEFI to the latest version. This made little sense, but we were running an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, and the Ryzen 3000 processors previously had an issue launching Destiny 2, which was later addressed through game and BIOS updates. Therefore, this might be an issue that only affects owners of AMD Ryzen CPUs, meaning that Intel users are unaffected.
How To Fix Red Dead Redemption 2 Launch Error
Desperate and willing to try anything, we updated the BIOS/UEFI of our MSI X570 GAMING PRO CARBON WI-FI to 7B93v14 which brings with it AMD ComboPI1.0.0.4 Patch B. After what felt like a grueling 10 minutes, and a reboot, we tried launching the game through the Rockstar Launcher again and, to our surprise, it worked! For those of you that would like to play Red Dead Redemption 2, you can follow our article on updating the BIOS.
If updating the BIOS/UEFI didn’t work for you, why not try this instead:
- Uninstalling your graphics driver with Wagnardsoft’s “Display Driver Uninstaller” and installing the latest available graphics drivers with support for Red Dead Redemption 2
- Closing background software like MSI Afterburner, NZXT CAM, EVGA Precision XOC, and f.lux
- Setting the RDR2.exe to run as administrator in the compatibility tab
- Disabling Full-screen optimizations for RDR2.exe under the compatibility tab
- Opening and closing the Rockstar Launcher in attempts to update the launcher on exit
- Installing available Windows Updates
Red Dead Redemption 2 gameplay
Check out our video covering the first 30 minutes (or so) of PC gameplay:
If you’ve figured out an alternative way of fixing these issues, let us and everyone else know down in the comments.
