ARK Survival Ascended: How To Fix Fatal Error Crash

ARK Survival Ascended has so far proven popular with both newcomers and veteran fans of the series, but it’s certainly not without its performance issues. Among the most annoying is the fatal error crash bug, which is as terminal as it sounds. Luckily, if you know the root cause of the problem then it’s easy enough to solve — albeit it time-consuming. Here’s how to fix the fatal crash error in ARK Survival Ascended.

Fixing the Fatal Crash Error in ARK Survival Ascended

So, what exactly causes this particular issue? Well, more often than not it’s simply that the files themselves are damaged or corrupt. That means to fix the issue your first port of call is to verify the game file integrity.

Verify Game File Integrity

As mentioned above, damaged or missing game files are a frequent cause of the fatal error crash. To check and repair these files, follow these steps:

1. Launch Steam: Open your Steam client.
2. Access Library: Navigate to the ‘Library’ section.
3. Find Ark Survival Ascended: Right-click on ‘ARK Survival Ascended’ in your list of games.
4. Go to Properties: Select ‘Properties’ from the context menu.
5. Verify Files: In the ‘Properties’ menu, find and click the ‘Local Files’ tab, then select ‘Verify Integrity of Game Cache’.

After the verification process is completed, try launching the game again.

Address Graphics Card and Optimization Issues

If the first method doesn’t work, the issue might be with your graphics card or its optimization, especially if you’re using Nvidia GeForce.

1. Access GeForce Experience: Press the ‘Win’ button or go to the Start Menu and search for ‘GeForce Experience’. Open it.
2. Adjust Settings: Click on the gear icon to access settings.
3. Optimization Settings: In the settings, navigate to the ‘Games’ tab. Find and uncheck the ‘Automatically optimize newly added games’ option.
4. Save and Test: Save your changes and launch Ark Survival Ascended to see if the issue is resolved.

Manual File Adjustment

If the above methods fail, you can attempt a manual fix:

1. Navigate to Game Directory: Go to \SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Ascended\ShooterGame\Saved\SavedArksLocal\TheIsland_WP.
2. Identify Key Files: You’ll find several files like 1399980138.arktribe, LocalPlayer.arkprofile, and TheIsland_WP.ark.
3. Create a Backup Folder: Make a new folder and move 1399980138.arktribe, LocalPlayer.arkprofile, and TheIsland_WP.ark into it.
4. Rename Backup Files: In the TheIsland_WP directory, rename TheIsland_WP_AntiCorruptionBackup.bak to TheIsland_WP.ark, LocalPlayer.profilebak to LocalPlayer.arkprofile, and 1399980138.tribebak to 1399980138.arktribe.

Relaunch the game to see if the error is resolved. Note that this method may result in partial loss of game progress.

In most cases, these troubleshooting steps should fix the fatal error crash in ARK Survival Ascended. If you’ve tried all these methods without success, the next step is to contact the game’s support team for further assistance. Remember, while manual intervention often solves the problem, it should be done cautiously to avoid further data loss.