Need for Speed (NFS) Unbound is here and it offers a more refined racing experience and improves upon flaws of NFS Heat. It has beautiful graphics, a wide variety of customization options, a good story, and a lot of cars that fans have appreciated. However, the PC version of the game has some flaws like random crashes, black screen issues, and the game not launching errors. Luckily the NFS community found a few fixes that helped fix most of the bugs and we’ll be sharing all of them here. Continue reading the article to know the fixes and workarounds for Need for Speed Unbound not launching, crashes, and black screen issues on PC.
Need for Speed (NFS) Unbound Not Launching, Crashing, Freezing & Black Screen On PC: How to fix it
It would be surprising if you haven’t encountered at least one bug in NFS Unbound and sadly some players have encountered many. Check out the fixes and workarounds for the same below-
Wait for a little after launching NFS Unbound
If the game is not launching even after you’ve double-clicked on it, don’t panic. There is an issue in NFS Unbound that happens when you first launch the game. Wait for at least 5-6 minutes after double-clicking on it and the game will launch. This works for Black Screen issues as well. When you boot up the game next time, it won’t pose any issues.
Restart PC
The most generic fix that works most of the time is restarting your PC. In the case of NFS Unbound, we’ll urge you to do the same. After that, try launching the game.
Delete DX12 file
This is the fix that has worked for many in the community and is something worth trying. To delete the DX12 file, you must access different locations of your PC as it is located in different paths, depending on the storefront you bought the game from like Origin & Steam. If you have the Origin version, go to – Origin Games\Need for Speed Unbound\shadercache Documents\Need For Speed(TM) Unbound\cache. For the Steam version, go to – Steamlibrary\steamapps\common\NFS Unbound\shadercache. Delete or Move the DX12 file in those folders. After that go to Documents/NFSUnbound/Cache/and delete the file, then launch the game.
Delete Save files
In rare instances, save files can cause a whole lot of issues, and if you’re experiencing the mentioned errors in Need for Speed Unbound on PC, this might be true. Do remember that you’ll lose all your progress so make sure to create a backup. So, go to the Documents folder, and locate the Need for Speed Unbound folder. Right-click on it and select “Copy” and then paste it to Desktop. Then delete the file in the Documents folder and see if that helps.
Open the EA app and start the game
This issue was also present in FIFA 23 and using this method can also fix the issues in NFS Unbound as well. If the game is not launching, start the EA app and then launch Unbound via Steam. If that doesn’t help, launch the game from Origin after closing the EA app first.
Allow the game through the antivirus/firewall/windows security
Antiviruses are often the culprit when the game is not launching as they block the integral files that the game uses. NFS Unbound is no different so try adding the game to the exception list or allow the game’s .exe file in the Antivirus. Make sure to do so in the firewall as well.
- Open “Settings” by typing it in the Start menu search box and click on “Update & Security”
- Click on “Windows Security” and “Virus & Threat Protection”
- Scroll down and click on “Manage Ransomware Protection” and then “allow an app through controlled folder access”.
- Click on “Yes” to allow and then “Add an Allowed app” and “Browse all apps”.
- Navigate to the install directory and select the .exe file of NFS Unbound and the trial.exe file.
Firewall
- Type Control Panel and open it
- Go to System and Security and click on “Windows Defender Firewall”
- Click on “allow an app or feature through windows defender firewall” in the left side and click on “Change Settings”
- Then click on “Allow another app” and “Browse”. Navigate to install directory of NFS Unbound and select the .exe file of the main game and trial.exe and click on “Open” and click on “Add”.
Perform a clean installation of the graphics drivers
Performing a clean installation of your GPU drivers can fix a host of issues that the game is giving you. Follow the steps below on how to do so.
- Go to NVIDIA or AMD Website and download the latest drivers of your graphics card.
- After downloading, open the downloaded file and click on “Agreed and Continue”
- Click on the “Custom” tab and click on “Next”.
- Tick the “Perform Clean Installation” checkbox and click on “Next”.
- Wait for it to complete and restart your PC.
Launch the game and the issue with NFS Unbound should be resolved. If not, try the next step.
Roll-back graphics drivers
If the new driver is conflicting with NFS unbound, rolling back to the previous driver can fix this. Follow the steps below to fix it.
- Again head to AMD or NVIDIA website like the abovementioned fix and in the download list, download any of the old drivers.
- Perform a clean installation and restart the PC and then the issue should be fixed.
Toggle Windowed mode and reduce graphics quality
If you have performance issues in Need for Speed Unbound on PC, there are a few settings that you can tweak. If you are able to launch the game, go to the Settings/Graphics menu and change the settings mentioned below.
- Motion Blur – Off
- Screen Mode – Windowed/Borderless
- V-Sync- Off
- Dynamic Resolution Scaling – Off
- Graphics Quality – Medium/High
Verify the game files
- If you have NFS Unbound on Steam, go to Library and on the left side, right-click on the game and select “Properties”.
- Select the “Local files” tab and click on “verify the integrity of game files”
- If you own the game on Origin, click on NFS Unbound, click on the Settings icon right next to the Play button and select “Repair”.
If that doesn’t help, then you can disable overlay apps, install the latest Visual C++ drivers, unplug any additional external devices from your PC, and try updating your BIOS. After following these steps, the errors in the game should be fixed. We hope that you enjoyed reading this article. Stay tuned for more updates about NFS Unbound, guides, news, and more at Digistatement.
