Grim Dawn is a beloved action role-playing game developed and published by Crate Entertainment. The game is available to play on platforms including PC, Xbox, and the Steam Deck. The game receives consistent updates even seven years after being initially released, which means it has a very active community. If you too like the game and have played it on your Steam Deck, you might have noticed some issues. Particularly, it has come to light that many Grim Dawn players are encountering a black screen issue in-game on their Steam Deck. So, we have featured this guide to share workarounds on how to fix it.
Multiple players have reported that launching Grim Dawn on their Steam Deck leads to a black screen. This can be really disappointing, as the game is clearly a fan favorite, with a very positive rating on Steam. Black screens in particular can be really scary compared to other bugs, as the player usually cannot tell what the cause of the problem is. So be sure to read this article until the end for more details on the same.
Grim Dawn Steam Deck Black Screen issue: How to fix it?
There do not seem to be any official fixes announced by the developers for the black screen issue in Grim Dawn on Steam Deck. And that’s quite obvious because it is not a Steam Deck verified title. However, it is still categorized as Playable by ProtonDB, so encountering a black screen issue isn’t something you would expect from a game that has this categorization. But it is what it is, and many are looking for workarounds to get rid of this issue. Well, we have shared a few, so give them a try.
Use Proton Experimental –
In case you are unaware, Proton is a compatibility layer for Steam Deck. Basically, the Steam Deck runs a version of Linux, so Proton makes playing games made for Windows possible on it. You can try setting it to Experimental mode by installing Grim Dawn via Heroic in Desktop mode, adding the executable file as a third party into Steam (while still in Desktop mode), going into game properties via Steam OS, forcing the Proton version to ‘experimental‘ and running this command: ‘PROTON_NO_D3D11=1 %command%‘ (for the 32-bit version of the game). In case you are using the 64-bit version, though, simply add ‘/x64’ after the command before running it, like so: ‘PROTON_NO_D3D11=1 %command% /x64‘. Hopefully, that worked for you like it did for u/whispertante.
Verify Game Files –
If the game has missing or corrupted files, this issue can occur. So, you need to verify the game files to fix the issue. You can do so by heading over to the Steam library, selecting the game, pressing the hamburger button (the three horizontal lines), and going to Properties> Local Files > ‘Verify Integrity of Game Files’. Steam will then verify if any files are missing or corrupted and fix them automatically. After the scan, launch the game and check if the issue persists.
Reinstall the game –
If none of the workarounds provided any useful results, try doing a fresh install of the game. Try running it without any mods, and then check if the black screen issue occurs again.
You can contact the developer team and share the issue with them. Anyway, if these workarounds prove effective in fixing this issue in-game, consider checking out Android Gram for more such content. Also read: Grim Dawn Steam Deck: Is it playable & available?
