There are several factors that can cause the Steam version of ARK Survival Evolved to crash on your computer. This could be due to an outdated graphics card driver, corrupted game file, or compatibility issues, To fix this, you will need to perform a series of troubleshooting steps.

ARK: Survival Evolved is an action adventure survival game that’s developed and published by Studio Wildcard and is available for Linux, Windows, macOS, PS4, Xbox One, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, and Stadia platforms. You play a character that’s stranded in an island called Ark. Your objective is to hunt, harvest resources, craft items, grow crops, research technologies, and build shelters to survive and escape the island.

Troubleshoot: ARK Survival Keeps Crashing on Windows

One of the issues that you might experience when playing Ark Survival Evolved is when it crashes. This can happen before the game starts or even during gameplay. This can be a frustrating experience as you won’t be able to enjoy playing the game.

Here’s what you can do to fix the Ark Survival Evolved crashing issue.

Solution 1: Make sure your PC meets the necessary hardware requirements to play Ark Survival Evolved

One of the reasons why your Ark Survival Evolved constantly crashes is because you are playing it on a computer that does not meet the hardware requirements. Studio Wildcard has listed the minimum system requirements needed for this game. Your computer should meet at least the minimum system requirements in order to get a good gaming experience.

Minimum system requirements:

OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit versions)

Processor: Intel Core i5-2400/AMD FX-8320 or better

Memory: 8 GB RAM

Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 670 2GB/AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB or better

DirectX: Version 10

Storage: 60 GB available space

Additional Notes: Requires broadband internet connection for multiplayer

Solution 2: Update graphics driver

Another factor that can cause any PC game to crash is if your computer has an outdated graphics driver. These outdated graphics drivers will usually lack some of the performance benefits as well as bug fixes found in the new graphics driver versions which is why you will need to check if an update is available.

Time Needed : 3 minutes

Update graphics driver manually

Right click on the Start button.
This will show you several options.
Click on Device Manager.
This will open the device manager window.
Click the arrow before Display adapters.
This will expand the display adapter list.
Right click on the selected graphics card then choose Update driver.
This will allow you to update your driver.
Select Search automatically for drivers.
This will search online for any new drivers and install it.

You can also update the graphics driver using the Nvidia GeForce Experience app if you have an Nvidia card or the Radeon Software if you are using a Radeon card.

Once the graphics driver has been updated you should restart the computer then check if the ARK Survival Evolved crashing issue still occurs.

Solution 3: Update your Microsoft Windows operating system

You will experience the ARK keeps crashing issue if your Windows operating system is not updated. It might not have the latest components needed for the game to run properly. In order to fix this you should get the latest Windows updates.

Manually download Windows updates

Right click the Start button.

Click Settings.

Click Windows Update section found on the bottom left side of the new window that appears.

Click Check for updates.

If new updates are found then click on the Install now button.

After the new updates have been installed you will have to restart your computer then check if the ARK crashing issue still occurs.

Solution 4: Close background application running when playing ARK Survival Evolved

You will experience the ARK Survival game crashing issue if there are too many programs running in the background while you are playing the game. You should make sure that no other applications are running such as your Chrome browser, Office apps, or Discord as these applications will use your computer system resources leaving a less amount of CPU, GPU, and RAM available for ARK Survival Evolved to access.

Close running applications

Open task manager window by right clicking the Start button then select Task Manager.

Make sure to click on More details.

Click on the Processes tab.

Right click on the apps running and select End task.

Try checking if the ARK crashing issue still occurs.

Solution 5: Check if your Windows antivirus is causing ARK Survival Evolved to crash

One way to fix ARK game crashes is to check if the antivirus program is causing the problem. This usually happens if the security software constantly checks the game files which will slow down the game significantly and usually cause the ARK crashing error.

You can check if this is the culprit by disabling the antivirus software of your computer then try playing ARK Survival Evolved. If the game does not lag, freeze, crash, or have decreased framerates with the antivirus software disabled then you will need to add ARK Survival Evolved to its exception list.

Disable the Windows antivirus software

Click the Start button.

Click on Settings.

Click on Update & Security.

Click on Windows Security.

Click on Virus & threat protection.

Click on Manage settings.

Turn off the Real time protection switch.

Adding ARK Survival Evolved to the exception list of antivirus software

Click the Start button.

Click on Settings.

Click on Update & Security.

Click on Windows Security.

Click on Virus & threat protection.

Click on Manage settings.

Click Add or remove exclusions.

Click Add an exclusion.

Click Folder.

Find the folder location of ARK Survival Evolved and select it.

Solution 6: Delete any installed game mods

Mods are usually used to enhance the gameplay experience however sometimes it can cause the ARK crashing issue. To check if it is indeed the game mods that is causing this problem you can delete any installed game mods. You can do this by going to the Ark folder then delete the mods folder.

Once deleted try checking if the ARK crashing problem still occurs.

Solution 7: Verify the integrity of game files

There’s a possibility that the lag issue is caused by damaged game files or missing game files. In order to fix this you will need to verify the integrity of the game file using the Steam client. Any missing files will be replaced with new ones downloaded from the servers.

Verify integrity of game files

Open the Steam client.
Click on your Steam Library.
Find ARK Survival Evolved then right click it and click on Properties.
On the new window that appears click on Local Files.
Click Verify integrity of game files…

Steam will analyze the game files for any discrepancies. If it finds any damaged game files, corrupted game files, or if a certain game file is missing then it will automatically be fixed.

Run the game then check if this will fix ARK crashing problem.

Solution 8: Reinstall ARK Survival Evolved

If after performing the above troubleshooting steps the ARK crashes issue still occurs then this might already be caused by broken installation files. You should uninstall Ark then install a fresh version.