Deadlock Crashes, Stutter and Won't Launch: Fixes That Work

Deadlock is still in development, so crashes and odd bugs come with the territory, especially in the days after a big update. Work through the fixes below in order. Most problems are solved by the first three. Already tried all of this? Skip to getting help on our Discord.

A note on these fixes. Valve doesn’t publish an official troubleshooting guide for Deadlock. The general Steam and driver steps are standard for every Steam game. The Deadlock-specific ones, like the DirectX 11 launch option, are fixes that many players report working; they’re not guaranteed.

The first three fixes (try these first)

1. Verify the game files

Damaged or half-updated files cause most launch crashes.

1. In your Steam Library, right-click Deadlock and choose Properties.
2. Open Installed Files.
3. Click Verify integrity of game files and wait for it to finish.

2. Update your graphics driver

Get the latest driver straight from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel. New games often crash on older drivers, and a fresh Deadlock patch can expose an old driver bug.

3. Turn off overlays

Overlays draw on top of the game and are a common cause of crashes.

• Steam overlay: Deadlock’s Properties, General tab, switch off Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game.
• Also switch off the Discord, NVIDIA (GeForce Experience / NVIDIA app) and AMD overlays, plus any FPS counters or recording tools, while you test.

If the game runs fine with overlays off, turn them back on one at a time to find the culprit.

Crashes on startup or a black screen

If the first three didn’t help:

Try the DirectX 11 launch option

This is the fix players report most often.

1. Deadlock’s Properties, General tab.
2. In Launch Options, delete anything you added before (such as -vulkan) and type -dx11.
3. Launch the game.

If -dx11 doesn’t help, remove it again, so you know your launch options aren’t part of the problem. Some players report Vulkan (-vulkan) crashing after certain patches; if you’ve switched to it, try going back.

Clear the shader caches

Steam downloads ready-made shaders for Deadlock, and they can get damaged during an update.

1. In Steam, open Settings, then Downloads, and click Clear Cache next to Clear Download Cache. Steam will restart and ask you to log in.
2. Optionally, clear Windows’ own cache: open Disk Cleanup for your C: drive, tick DirectX Shader Cache and run it.

The next launch will be slow while the game rebuilds its shaders. Don’t close it during the first loading screen.

Reinstall the Visual C++ runtimes

Missing or damaged Microsoft Visual C++ redistributables can stop Source 2 games starting. Download and install the latest x64 package from Microsoft, then restart your PC.

Settings keep coming back broken

If you’ve deleted a broken settings file and it reappears, Steam Cloud is restoring it. In Deadlock’s Properties, General tab, turn off Keep game saves in the Steam Cloud before you delete the file, then turn it back on after the game has created a fresh one.

Crashes in the middle of a match

1. Relaunch and rejoin straight away. A match you don’t come back to can count as leaving it, and leaving earns penalties.
2. Verify the game files again, especially if the crash started right after a patch.
3. Undo recent changes: new launch options, overclocks, driver updates or overlay software.
4. Watch your temperatures. A CPU or GPU that overheats in long team fights can crash the game. Clean your fans and check your cooling.
5. Check Windows Event Viewer if it keeps happening. Errors from your graphics driver (on NVIDIA, the source is often listed as nvlddmkm) point to a driver or hardware problem rather than the game.

Stutter and low FPS

• After a patch, some stutter is normal. The game rebuilds shaders during your first loading screen and first match. Give it one game before changing anything.
• Raise the shader cache size. On NVIDIA, open the NVIDIA Control Panel, go to Manage 3D settings and set Shader Cache Size to Unlimited or 10 GB, so shaders aren’t thrown away and rebuilt.
• Install the game on an SSD. Hard drives cause noticeably more hitching in Source 2 games.
• Tune your settings for fights. Shadows and particles cost the most when twelve heroes are fighting. Our best settings guide goes through them in order.
• Close background apps, especially browsers with video, and downloads.
• Cap your frame rate at a number your PC can hold in fights. A steady frame rate feels smoother than one that jumps up and down.

Connection problems, lag and rubber-banding

• Use a wired connection. Wi-Fi causes most packet loss and rubber-banding.
• Stop other downloads and streams on your network while you play, including Steam updates.
• Restart your router if lag appears suddenly.
• Check whether it’s just you. After a big update, servers are busy and Valve sometimes has problems on its side. If friends in your region see the same thing, wait it out.

Steam Deck and Linux

Deadlock isn’t officially supported on Linux or the Steam Deck. It runs through Valve’s Proton compatibility layer, and players do play that way, but performance and stability vary from patch to patch.

If it won’t start:

• Try a different Proton version: right-click Deadlock, Properties, Compatibility, tick Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool, and pick another version. Some players report better results with community builds like Proton GE.
• Try the -dx11 launch option, which some Steam Deck players report fixing a startup crash.

Invite or access problems

If Deadlock hasn’t appeared in your library, see how to get Deadlock. The usual cause is a limited Steam account, and invites can take a day or two to arrive.

Still stuck? Get help on our Discord

If you’ve worked through everything on this page and Deadlock still crashes, stutters or won’t connect, ask us and other players on the Deadlock Handbook Discord. It’s free to join, and someone has often seen the same problem after the latest patch.

Join our Discord

Once you’re in, post in #general. To get a useful answer quickly, include:

1. What happens: a crash on launch, a crash mid-match, a black screen, stutter, lag or something else, and roughly when it started (after an update? a driver change?).
2. The exact error message, if there is one. A screenshot is perfect.
3. Your PC: Windows version (or Steam Deck / Linux), graphics card, processor and graphics driver version.
4. What you’ve already tried from this page, so nobody suggests it again.

Never share your Steam password or login code with anyone who offers to fix it for you. Real help never needs them.

If it’s a genuine game bug, also report it to Valve on the official forums at forums.playdeadlock.com, which the developers read. Include the same details. If something on this page is out of date or didn’t work for you, tell us in #site-feedback on the same Discord so we can fix it.

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