If Battlefield 2042 Crashes Constantly, Try This Quick Fix

Over the past three days, Battlefield 2042 has been crashing to desktop constantly for me. I assumed there was nothing I could do but wait for the first patch, but there might’ve been an easy fix all along: If Battlefield 2042 is crashing or freezing, try using the “verify integrity of game files” tool on Steam. 

In Steam you can find the ‘verify integrity’ button by right clicking on the game in your Library, selecting ‘Properties,’ and navigating to the ‘Local Files’ tab. The tool will check that all of your Battlefield 2042 files match the files you’re supposed to have, and it they don’t, it’ll automatically replace the missing or corrupted data.

If you have Battlefield 2042 on Origin, try right-clicking and using the “repair” option, which is the equivalent.

After running the check on my copy of Battlefield 2042 Ultimate Edition, which I had preloaded before the November 12 early access release, Steam found one mismatch and downloaded 644.7KB to fix the problem. I haven’t had a crash since.

The situation on Origin is less conclusive. Staff Writer Morgan Park is playing the Origin version, and says the “repair” tool might’ve downloaded something, but has no record to indicate what. It may or may not have helped.

If you’re experiencing an untenable number of crashes like I was, which ended more than one Hazard Zone run tragically early, hopefully this fix helps. If corrupt or missing data wasn’t your problem, then try updating your video drivers if you haven’t already, or checking the support forum.

I’m kicking myself a little for not trying file validation right away. A few months ago I was crashing out of Rainbow Six Siege every time a map loaded, and it also turned out then that my local game data had gaps. In this case, I just assumed the crashes were part of BF2042’s other launch issues (the lag can be a bit rough in Conquest at times), but apparently it isn’t so.

Now that I can seemingly play without BF2042.exe eating it every 10 minutes, I should have a review up within the next few days. There are some curious UI decisions and Portal is more limited than I’d hoped, but I continue to have a positive outlook for BF2042, which so far contrasts what I’m seeing from other critics.

Regarding the tweet embedded above, that’s us learning about tornadoes and a different kind of crash in Hazard Zone over the weekend.

Tyler has spent over 1,200 hours playing Rocket League, and slightly fewer nitpicking the PC Gamer style guide. His primary news beat is game stores: Steam, Epic, and whatever launcher squeezes into our taskbars next.