[FIX] Batman Arkham Knight Fatal Error on Windows

Years after this game launched on PC, there are still a lot of players encountering this issue. The game is still very unstable on Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10, and one of the most common occurrences that is known to spoil gaming sessions is Fatal error! (Rendering thread exception).

After investigating this particular issue thoroughly, it turns out that there are several different underlying causes that might be triggering this error. Here’s a shortlist of potential culprits:

Now that you know the biggest culprits, here is some step by step instructions for methods that other Batman Arkham Knight players have successfully used to get this issue fixed:

Method 1: Install the latest GPU driver version

Since this issue is almost always related to the way your GPU is rendering data fetched by the game and the fact that both Nvidia and AMD have released countless fixes aimed at alleviating these fatal crashes, you should start this troubleshooting guide by making sure that every GPU driver and dependency associated with it is updated to the latest driver available.

You can either do this with the built-in function available with Device Manager or you can rely on the proprietary software released by Nvidia and AMD.

If you haven’t tried resolving this issue by updating your graphics drivers, follow the instructions below to do so:

1. Open up a Run dialog box by pressing Windows key + R. Next, inside the text box, type ‘devmgmt.msc’ and press Enter to open up Device Manager.

   

2. Once you’re inside the Device Manager utility, scroll down through the list of installed devices and expand the drop-down menu associated with Display Adapters. Once you’re inside, right-click on the dedicated GPU that you’re using when playing the game (if you have both an integrated and dedicated GPU) and choose Update Driver from the context menu that just appeared.

   

3. At the next screen, click on Search Automatically for updated driver software and wait for the initial scan to complete.

   

4. If a new driver version is available, follow the on-screen instructions to download and install it on your computer. If the update installation does happen, restart your computer and see if the problem is fixed at the next computer startup.
   Note: In case Device Manager was unable to find a newer driver equivalent, you should also consider using the proprietary software capable of updating your GPU with the latest firmware:
   GeForce Experience – Nvidia
   Adrenalin – AMD
5. Finally, restart your computer and see if you’re finally able to play Batman Arkham Knight without experiencing the same kind of critical crashes.

If the same ‘Fatal Error’ is still occurring randomly, move down to the next potential fix below.

Method 2: Installing every missing DirectX Redist Package

There are several documented reports where this fatal error occurred due to a Dynamic Link Library file named mscvr100.dll. If the error message that pops up when the game crashes contains references to mscvr100.dll, there’s a very big chance that the crash is occurring due to the fact that it’s trying to use a DLL file that is not present on your computer.

If this scenario is applicable, the best way to ensure the issue gets fixed is to run the DirectX End-User Runtime Web installer and install every missing DLL dependency. This utility will scan your DLL list and decide which packages you need before installing them automatically.

Here’s a quick guide that will show you how to run the DirectX End-User Runtime Web installer to update the local DirectX DLL list and associated dependencies:

1. Open your default browser and navigate to the download page of the Direct End-User Web Installer. 
2. Once you’re at the correct location, click on the Download button and wait for the process to start.

   

3. At the next screen, make sure to avoid the download of bloatware by clicking on No thanks and continue with DirectX End-User Runtime Web installer button.
4. Once the dxwebsetup.exe file is downloaded successfully, double-click on it and press Yes at the UAC (User Account Control) prompt to grant admin access.
5. Next, follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation of the missing DirectX dependencies. At the end of this operation, you will be prompted to restart your computer. When this happens, do so and see if the issue is fixed once the next startup is complete.

In case you have already ensured that you installed every DirectX Redistributable package and you’re still seeing this error, move down to the next potential fix below.

Method 3: Repairing the Installation of Arkham Knight in Steam

If you’re encountering this issue while attempting to run the game through Steam, it’s possible to get these types of crashes inside Arkham Knight because of some missing / corrupted game files. Most commonly, these issues appear due to a botched update or an unexpected PC interruption while the game version was being updated in the background.

If you find yourself in this particular scenario, you should be able to fix the problem by using the built-in Steam menus to fix the integrity of the game.

Important: The steps below are only applicable if you are launching Batman: Arkham Night through Steam.

To check the file integrity of the game, follow the instructions below:

1. Start by opening your Steam client and by making sure that you are signed in with your account credentials.
2. Once you’ve made sure that you have successfully signed it, click on Library from the menu at the top, then right-click on the game from the menu on the left. Next, choose Properties from the context menu.

   

3. Inside the Properties screen, go ahead and click on Local Files, then click on Verify the Integrity of Game Cache.

   

4. At the final confirmation prompt, click Yes and wait for the operation to complete. If the scan manages to find inconsistencies with the game files, follow the on-screen instructions to repair the game before restarting your computer and checking if the game strops crashing.

If the Fatal error! (Rendering thread exception) message popup is still appearing randomly when you attempt to play the game, move down to the next method below.

Method 4: Disable all Gameworks Effects and Interactive Smoke/Fog

If none of the potential fixes above have worked in your case, one final thing you can do before calling it quits is to experiment with disabling different problematic settings that are known to cause fatal crashes of this kind inside Batman Arkham Knight.

According to our research, 2 settings that might be responsible for this issue are Gameworks Effects and Interactive Smoke / Fog. So if you have them enabled, access the in-game Video menu and turn them off before loading up a save.

After you disable these 2 graphical options, play the game normally and see if the issue is now fixed.f