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Saints and Sinners is the latest Walking Dead game that challenges all your skills as a gamer. If scavenging through the ruins of a flooded New Orleans isn’t exacting enough, wait till you find out the particulars of survival-critical side missions and face impossible dilemmas that will affect the people of the city.

No doubt, the game is well thought out and enriched with a near-perfect script; however, there are times when a lot is left to be desired. Gamers have bitterly complained about a myriad of issues since the game’s release, one of which is random crashes that occur some minutes after the launch sequence.

If that is why you’re here, it’s your lucky day. We’ve compiled all the workarounds and fixes that will help you get rid of the problem.

The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners requirements

Before you start anything, make sure you have a computer that satisfies the game’s minimum requirements. You’ll be surprised to find out that despite having what you may believe is a powerful gaming rig, you could be lacking an upgrade that’s causing the game to crash.

Saints and Sinners’ minimum and recommended requirements are laid out below, and if you don’t know how to check your system’s specs against them, you’ll find a guide to walk you through the process.

Minimum Requirements

Operating System: Windows 10

CPU: Intel i5-4590; AMD Ryzen 5 1500X

System Memory: 8 GB RAM

GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1060; AMD Radeon RX 480

Storage: 40 GB available space

DirectX: Version 11

Operating System: Windows 10

CPU: Intel i5-4590; AMD Ryzen 5 1500X

System Memory: 8 GB RAM

GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1060; AMD Radeon RX 480

Storage: 40 GB available space

DirectX: Version 11

There are different ways to find information about your system’s specs. You can check your device specifications in the system properties window, in the DirectX window, and in the Settings application.

The steps below will show you how to go through the DirectX window:

  1. Launch the Run dialog window. If you don’t know how to do that, simply right-click on the Start button and select Run or press the Windows logo and R keys together.
  2. After the Run dialog box shows up, type “dxdiag” (without the quotes) into the text box, and then click on the OK button.
  3. You’ll find your CPU’s model, system architecture, RAM size, and DirectX version under System Information once the DirectX Diagnostic Tool window opens.
  4. To check details about your display adapter, head over to the Display tab.

If you find that there are aspects of your system that need to be upgraded, don’t hesitate to do the needful. Once you’ve made sure your computer is in perfect shape to run the game, go ahead with the fixes below if you still experience random crashes.

Download the game’s latest patch

If you haven’t updated The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners, that should be your next move. Video games are hardly immune to bugs and glitches after they’re released, and developers routinely release patches and updates to fix reported issues and smoothen things out.

You could easily resolve the crashing issue by installing all the patches released for the game, just as other players did.

If that doesn’t work, however, then a system glitch could be the reason for the problem. You’ll find all the different workarounds that have helped players get rid of the issue.

Run the game as an administrator

Video games rely on a lot of system resources due to their need for heavy video processing. If Saints and Sinners doesn’t have access to certain resources as a result of permission issues, the game might continue to crash until it has access.

To resolve the problem here, you have to grant the game all the permissions it needs by running it as an administrator.

To run the game as an administrator, you must right-click on it and select Run as Administrator in the context menu that shows up. If you don’t want to tread that route, you can configure the game to always run with admin privileges whenever you launch it. Follow the steps below:

  1. Launch a File Explorer window, using the Windows + E keyboard combination.
  2. After the File Explorer opens, go to the left pane and click on This PC.
  3. Next, move over to the main window and double-click on Local Disk C under Devices and Drives.
  4. Locate the Program Files (x86) folder and double-click on it.
  5. Open the Steam folder.
  6. Double-click on the Steamapps folder after the Steam folder opens.
  7. Now, open the Common folder, then locate the installation folder of The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners and open it.
  8. If you didn’t install the Steam client or the game in their default locations, you’ll have to follow these steps to open the game’s installation folder:
  • Launch Steam.
  • Click on Library at the top of the window.
  • After your game list appears, right-click on The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners, and then click on Properties.
  • Go to the right side of the window and click on Local Files.
  • Now, click on the Browse Local Files button under the Local Files tab.
  • The game’s folder should now appear.
  1. Scroll through the folder and locate the game’s executable file. Right-click on the file, and then click on Properties.
  2. Once you see the Properties dialog window, switch to the Compatibility tab and check the box beside “Run this program as an administrator.”
  3. Click on the OK button, then run the game and check for the issue.

Verify integrity of game files

You can use the Steam client to scan for game files that are corrupt or missing and replace them automatically. These files make up the main operations of your game, and when they go corrupt or missing, random crashes will begin to occur.

The client works by comparing the files on your system with those on its servers and replacing any that it finds to be irregular. The steps below will walk you through the process:

  1. Go to the Start menu and launch Steam. You can launch the client directly from your desktop if you have a shortcut.
  2. After Steam shows up, click on Library at the top of the window.
  3. Navigate through your game list and right-click on The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners.
  4. Click on Properties in the context menu.
  5. After the Properties page appears on the right side, navigate to the Local Files tab.
  6. Click on VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME FILES.
  7. The client will now scan for faulty or missing files and replace them.
  8. After the process is complete, restart Steam and launch the game to check for the problem.

Install the latest version of your graphics card driver

The random game crashes could be a result of a faulty, missing, outdated, or incompatible graphics card driver.

As you know, the GPU is one of those components that can make or mar your gaming experience, and its driver is responsible for controlling how it processes your game’s graphics. So, if you haven’t updated your driver in a while, that could be the cause of your problems.

Before you go ahead and update the driver, uninstall the existing driver to make sure there are no complications. The following steps will show you how to remove the driver, using the Device Manager:

  1. Press and hold the Windows logo key, then tap the X key to invoke the Quick Access menu. You can also right-click on the Start button for the same result.
  2. After the Quick Access menu shows up, select Device Manager.
  3. Once the Device Manager launches, go to Display Adapters and expand the menu.
  4. Right-click your graphics card and click on Uninstall Device.
  5. After the Uninstall Device confirmation box opens, check the box beside “Delete the driver software for this device,” then click on the Uninstall button.
  6. Now, restart your system and go ahead with updating the driver.

There are different ways to update your graphics card driver. You can use Windows Update, the Device Manager, or a dedicated third-party application. However you go about it, make sure you do it right.

If you don’t know how to use any of the methods stated above, we’ll be walking you through them.

Using Windows Update

The Windows Update utility only downloads and installs driver updates that have been released by Microsoft; so, there’s a chance that using the tool will not bear fruit.

That said, Windows Update also downloads and installs other important software components that can potentially resolve your crashing issue. These components include the .NET Framework and the Visual C++ Redistributable package.

The steps below will show you how to use the utility:

  1. Right-click on the Start button and click on Settings in the Quick Access menu. Using the Windows + I keyboard combination will launch Settings faster.
  2. After the home screen of the app shows up, click on Update & Security.
  3. Now, click on the “Check for Updates” button.
  4. If your OS is up to date, you can move on to the next guide.
  5. If you have available updates, however, allow the tool to download them.
  6. Once the updates are downloaded, click on the Restart Now button to prompt Windows Update to install them.
  7. Note that your PC will reboot several times until the updates are fully installed.
  8. After the process is complete, run The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners to check for the problem.

Using the Device Manager

Like Windows Update, you might not find using the Device Manager very successful, but it’s worth a try. The following steps will show you what to do:

  1. Press and hold the Windows logo key, then tap the X key to invoke the Quick Access menu. You can also right-click on the Start button for the same result.
  2. After the Quick Access menu shows up, select Device Manager.
  3. Once the Device Manager launches, go to Display Adapters and expand the menu.
  4. Right-click your graphics card and click on Update Driver.
  5. Once the Update Driver window appears, click on “Search automatically for updated driver software.”
  6. Allow Windows to perform the online search for the driver and install it.
  7. Restart your system and check for the crashing problem once the process is complete.

Note that you have to implement the process for other device drivers that you’ve not updated in a while, especially your sound card.

If you don’t want to go through the stress of updating your device drivers one after the other, you’ll be better off using a dedicated driver-updating tool such as Auslogics Driver Updater.

The program will scan your computer for drivers that are corrupt and out of date. Once it finds them, it will allow you to update them automatically.

You’ll get the premium feature of updating every problematic driver at once for a small fee.

Follow these steps to download and install the tool:

  1. Open this link in your web browser.
  2. Once you get to the web page, click on the Download button.
  3. After your browser downloads the setup file, run it.
  4. Click on the Yes button once the User Account Control dialog box appears.
  5. Choose your preferred language once you see the setup wizard, select an installation directory, and then enter other preferences.
  6. After that, click on the “Click to install” button.
  7. Once the installation process is complete, allow the tool to run.
  8. Click on the Start Scan button.
  9. If your graphics card driver shows up in the list of problematic drivers, click on the Update button.
  10. Restart your PC and check for the crashing issue in the game once your drivers have been downloaded and installed.

Restrict your antivirus program

You could be suffering from a case of antivirus interference. It’s not news that system protection programs don’t always play nice with new or updated games. So, make sure this isn’t the case by adding your game’s installation folder as an exception in the program.

Note that every antivirus program has a different name for the Exceptions feature. If you don’t know how to use the feature in your security application, you can go to the support page of your app’s developer to find a guide.

If your main antivirus program is Windows Security, however, then you should follow the steps below:

  1. Right-click on the Start button and click on Settings in the Quick Access menu. Using the Windows + I keyboard combination will launch Settings faster.
  2. After the home screen of the app shows up, click on the Update & Security icon.
  3. Next, click on Windows Update in the left pane of the Update & Security interface.
  4. Click on Virus & Threat Protection under Protection Areas.
  5. After the Virus & Threat Protection page opens, click on Manage Settings under Virus & Threat Protection Settings.
  6. On the next screen, click “Add or remove exclusions” under Exclusions.
  7. Now, click on the “Add an Exclusion” icon and tap “Folder” in the context menu.
  8. After the Select Folder dialog shows up, navigate to the installation folder of TWDSS and select it.
  9. You can now run the game to check if the crashing problem persists.

Make sure the game is being processed by your dedicated graphics card

The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners is not designed to run on less powerful graphics adapters, especially integrated ones. If your PC has two graphics cards, it’s possible that the game is being forced to run on the integrated card. In this case, the game will always crash because the card it’s running on doesn’t have the required firepower to process it. So, make sure you force the game to run on your dedicated video adapter alone regardless of which power option your computer is currently on.

We’ll be showing you how to use the Settings app, NVIDIA Control Panel, and AMD Radeon Settings to apply this fix.

Using the NVIDIA Control Panel:

  1. Right-click on your Desktop’s empty surface and click on NVIDIA Control Panel.
  2. Once the app appears, go to the left sidebar and click on Manage 3D Settings under 3D Settings.
  3. Switch to the main screen, stay in the General tab, and then select “High-performance NVIDIA processor” in the Preferred Graphics Processor drop-down menu.
  4. After that, switch to the Program Settings tab.
  5. Select The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners under Select Program to Customize. If the game isn’t on the list, click on the Add button, then navigate to its installation folder and add it.
  6. Now, go to “Select the preferred graphics processor for this program” and click “High-performance NVIDIA processor.”
  7. Click on the Apply button to save your changes.

Using AMD Radeon Settings

  1. Press and hold the Windows logo key, then tap R on your keyboard to launch the Run dialog box.
  2. After Run opens, type “control panel” into the text field and hit the Enter key.
  3. Once the Control Panel opens, go to the “View by” drop-down and select Large Icons.
  4. Click on AMD Radeon Settings.
  5. Once AMD Radeon Settings opens, go to the top of the window and click on System.
  6. After the System interface appears, click on Switchable Graphics in the top-left corner.
  7. You’ll now see the Running Applications view of the Switchable Graphics interface.
  8. If The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners is open, you should see it. Click on its arrow and select High Performance.
  9. If the game isn’t running or not visible in the Running Applications view, navigate to the top-right corner of the window and click on Running Applications.
  10. Click on Installed Profiled Applications on the next page in the same position.
  11. Locate TWDSS and change its Switchable Graphics option to High Performance.
  12. If the game still isn’t visible, head to the top-right corner and click on the Browse button, then navigate to the game’s installation folder in the dialog box that opens and add it.
  13. You can now change its option to High Performance.

Note that:

  • The Power Saving option means that the game will run on the integrated GPU.
  • The “Based on Power Source” option implies that the game will be forced to run on the integrated GPU whenever your PC is saving power and the dedicated card when your laptop is plugged to a power source.

Using the Settings App

  1. Right-click on your Desktop and click on Display Settings.
  2. Once you see the Display interface of the Settings app, scroll to the bottom of the window and click on Graphics Settings.
  3. On the Graphics Settings screen, go to the drop-down menu under “Choose an app to set preference” and select Classic App.
  4. Next, click on the Browse button, then go to the installation folder of The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners and double-click on the game’s EXE file.
  5. Once the game’s label appears, click on it, then click on Options.
  6. Now, select High Performance in the dialog box that pops up and click on the Save button.

Conclusion

All things being equal, you should now be able to run the game for hours without going through the ordeal of random crashes. If you have any questions or want to share your thoughts on the issue, you’re welcome to use the comments section below.