Constant Crash on Launch - January 2026

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Technical Support
1

Issue Type (Required):

Crash - on Launch

Issue Description (Required):

Was able to play this game without issue a few days ago, but now it will 100% always crash immediately after hitting play on the launcher.

  • Windows 11: Steam, Launcher.exe , and Darktide.exe all have been set to run as administrator. Virus & Threat Protection (Windows Defender Settings), Firewall, Core Isolation are all disabled.
  • Steam: In-game overlay disabled, Download Cache cleared, Verified File Integrity
  • Deleted the %appdata% folder for Darktide, issue unresolved
  • Re-installed the game, issue unresolved

[PC] Do You Use Mods? (Optional):

No, I don’t use mods

Reproduction Rate (Required):

Constant (100%)

Platform (Required):

PC - Steam

[PC] Crash Report (Optional):

GUID: 2af64d7b-c429-406d-ba2d-bd56cb45528b

Log File:
Info Type:

[Script Error]: scripts/settings/options/sound_settings.lua:202: attempt to index global ‘Wwise’ (a nil value)

[PC] Upload Console Log & darktide_launcher.log (Optional):

crash_dump-2026-01-19-04.46.58-2af64d7b-c429-406d-ba2d-bd56cb45528b.dmp (1.01 MB)

1 Like
2

We’ve noticed this crash appears to somehow resolve on its own for every player we’ve spoken to with this issue so far.

Is Windows Security blocking it by any chance?

3

I have no doubt Windows 11 would do such a thing, but I’ve tried disabling all the options from the following

Virus & Threat Protection (Windows Defender Settings)

  • Real-time Protection, Dev Drive Protection, Cloud-delivered Protection, Automatic sample submission, Tamper Protection, Controlled Folder Access

Windows Firewall: Disabled

Device Security

  • Memory integrity, Kernel-mode Hardware-encored Stack Protection, Memory Access Protection, Local Security Authority protection, Microsoft Vulnerable Driver Blocklist

If there’s anything I might have missed, or more settings to adjust I appreciate any suggestions, thank you.

4

Thanks for checking in such detail! Could you try a Selective Startup, to rule out any other potential interference?:

  1. Press the Windows key
  2. Type ‘msconfig’ and select ‘System Configuration’
  3. On the ‘General’ tab, select ‘Selective Startup’
  4. Deselect ‘Load Startup Items’
  5. Reboot your PC
  6. Launch Darktide as normal, and see if the issue persists