Fix: Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag crash on startup (2024)

Whenever Microsoft comes up with a new Windows version, it’s almost a given thing that many games out there won’t work.

And now we have fresh reports regarding issues with the Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag game. Here’s what one affected user has been saying:

I am a Win10 user and I have a serious problem while I try to play Assasins creed IV Black flag. The game used to work on previous versions of windows but is not working since I upgraded to win10. the game does not open at all. and I even tried changing the compatibility mode still it doesn’t work. As soon as I click the icon, the curser shows a loading mark and stops and the game does not open

First of all, it goes without saying that you need to Run the troubleshooter for Windows apps and also check for whatever updates you might have pending, both from Windows Update, but also for your graphics card.

What can I do if Assassins Creed Black flag freezes my PC?

This series is known for its bugs, and even the newer entries such as Assassin’s Creed: Origins have bugs. To fix this issue, you need to check your installation and make sure you’re using the latest version.

These aren’t the only issues, and many reported black bars in games, which can be quite distracting at times.

In some instances, full-screen games keep minimizing, but luckily, there are ways to fix that by following the instructions from out guides.

According to users, they experienced a variety of issues with Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag. Speaking of issues, these are some of the most common problems that users reported:

• Assassin’s Creed Black Flag doesn’t start, won’t launch – This is a relatively common problem with Assassin’s Creed. To fix the issue, try running the game as an administrator or in Compatibility Mode.
• Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Windows 10 crash – If this problem occurs, the issue might be your drivers. Update your graphics card driver and check if the problem still persists.
• Assassin’s Creed Black Flag not responding, launching – This is just a variation of this error, and in order to fix it, be sure to check if your antivirus is interfering with the game in any way.
• Assassin Creed IV Black Flag has stopped working – If your game suddenly stops working, the issue might be a problematic third-party application, so be sure to remove it. If the issue still persists, feel free to try any other solution from this article.

How do I fix Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag on Windows 10?

1. Use a third-party driver updater

If Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag doesn’t start, the problem might be your graphics card driver. Outdated drivers can cause this problem to appear.

In order to fix it, we highly recommend you to keep your drivers up to date. To see how to update your drivers, be sure to use a third-party program specialized in doing it.

To make sure that everything goes smoothly and avoid any kind of GPU driver errors, be sure to use a complete driver update assistant that will solve your problems with just a couple of clicks, and we strongly recommend DriverFix. Follow these easy steps to safely update your drivers:

1. Download and install DriverFix.
2. Launch the software.
3. Wait for DriverFix to detect all your faulty drivers.
4. The application will now show you all the drivers that have issues, and you just need to select the ones you’d liked fixed.
5. Wait for the app to download and install the newest drivers.
6. Restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

DriverFix

Keep you GPU on the peaks of their performance without worrying about its drivers.

Free trial
Visit website

Disclaimer: this program needs to be upgraded from the free version in order to perform some specific actions.

2. Install the game in Compatibility mode

1. Download thegame from the manufacturer’s website.
2. Right-click on thegame setup file and click on Properties.
   
3. Click on the Compatibility tab and check the box Run this program in compatibility mode.
4. Select an older version of Windows.
5. Click on Apply and OK to save changes.
   
6. Once this is done, try to install the game again.

What you could try is to install the game in compatibility mode and check if that helps.

3. Verify the integrity of game files

1. Start Steam and go to your game library.
2. Locate Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag on the list and right click it.
3. Choose Properties from the menu.
   
4. Now navigate to Local Files tab and click Verify integrity of game files button.
   
5. The verification process will now start. This process can take about 10 minutes or so, so try not to interrupt it.

Sometimes you might experience problems with Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag due to corrupted files.

Your game files can get corrupted, and in order to fix the problem, you need to verify the integrity of the game cache. This is rather simple and you can do it by following these steps:

Once the scan is finished, try to run the game again. If the scan can’t fix the problem, go to the game’s installation directory and remove the following files:

• AC4BFSP.exe
• DataPC.forge
• DataPC_patch.forge

After doing that, verify the integrity of the files again and the issue should be resolved.

7. Remove your saved game files

1. Go to C:Program File(x86)UbisoftUbisoft Game Launchersavegames<User ID><Number>

2. Locate your saved files.
3. Now, move them to your desktop.
4. Try to start the game again.

If you can’t start Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag, the problem might be your save game files. Sometimes your save games can get corrupted and that can prevent the game from running.

The game will try to load the corrupted save file, and since it won’t be able to run it, the game will crash. However, you can fix the problem simply by moving your saved game files to a different location.

8. Run the game as administrator

1. Locate the game’s shortcut and Right-click it.
2. Choose Run as administrator from the menu.
   
3. Start the game and see if the problem persists.

If the problem still persists, you might be able to solve it simply by running the game as an administrator.

If this workaround works for you, you’ll have to use it every time you want to start Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag on your PC.

That’s about it for this article. This problem has plagued many users, thus not allowing them to live their pirate assassin fantasy through this awesome and elaborate game.

Unfortunately, at the moment only these are the possible fixes we know. We’ll have to hear from Ubisoft themselves for further guidance. If you are aware of others, don’t hesitate and do share with us.