🎮 Game Error Codes What it means & how to fix it

The First Berserker: Khazan — Crash on Launch & Fatal Error Fix

The First Berserker: Khazan is an Unreal Engine title whose most common PC crash hits right at startup — a black screen or instant close before the menu. The single fix most guides miss: deleting the NVIDIA Streamline file sl.pcl.dll from the game folder. Below is that fix plus the Intel 13th/14th-gen instability fix and the OpenXR conflict, each with the exact path.

Error codes

Black screen / instant close on launch (won't reach menu) The game crashes during engine/plugin init before rendering the menu

Cause: A conflict with NVIDIA Streamline's sl.pcl.dll is the confirmed cause on many PCs.

Fix:
  1. In Steam, right-click Khazan -> Manage -> Browse local files, open Engine\Plugins\Runtime\Nvidia\Streamline\Binaries\ThirdParty\Win64 and delete sl.pcl.dll. This is the most-reported working fix for the launch crash.
  2. Run the game as Administrator (right-click the .exe -> Properties -> Compatibility -> Run as administrator).
  3. Update or roll back your GPU driver — the black-screen/no-launch issue is driver-linked.
Frequent crashes/freezes after the latest title update Stable game starts crashing mid-session after a patch

Cause: 13th/14th-gen Intel CPU instability and shader/cache mismatch introduced by the update.

Fix:
  1. On a 13th/14th-gen Intel CPU, use Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU) to cap all cores to a 52x multiplier (redo after each restart) — this stops the update-era crashing.
  2. Verify integrity of game files in Steam to sync post-patch files.
  3. Delete the game's local shader cache and let it rebuild.
Crash tied to OpenXR / VR toolkit Game tries to launch through OpenXR and dies

Cause: OpenXR Toolkit hooks the game even though it is not a VR title.

Fix:
  1. Uninstall OpenXR Toolkit or disable it from within the toolkit before launching Khazan.
  2. Set your default OpenXR runtime back to your headset vendor's, or unplug the headset if not in use.

Fixes that work for most The First Berserker: Khazan (PC / Steam, Unreal Engine) errors

  1. Delete sl.pcl.dll (Streamline) as above — the highest-success launch fix.
  2. Clean-install the latest GPU driver with DDU and install the newest Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables (x86 + x64).
  3. Verify game files in Steam and disable Discord/Steam/GeForce overlays.

FAQ

Is it safe to delete sl.pcl.dll?

Yes — sl.pcl.dll is part of NVIDIA Streamline (DLSS frame-generation plumbing). Deleting it disables that one component; the game still launches and runs, and it is the most-reported fix for Khazan's startup crash.

Why does capping my Intel CPU to 52x stop the crashes?

13th/14th-gen Intel chips can be unstable under UE workloads; limiting the all-core multiplier via XTU reduces the voltage/thermal spikes that trigger the post-update crashes.

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