Rainbow Six Siege X sometimes fails to start, showing a “Oh no, it’s crashed” error message. This typically happens during the game’s initialisation phase, when the rendering engine, audio system, and overlays are being loaded. If any of these components encounter an issue, the game may close before reaching the main menu. Because the error can stem from different system conflicts, there is no single universal fix, so you'll need to work your way through the steps below, especially if you are using a lot of third-party software on your computer.
Takeaways:
- Learn How to Fix Rainbow Six Siege X “Oh no, it’s crashed” Error
- Is a sound driver causing Rainbow Six Siege X “Oh no, it’s crashed” Error?
- What is causing Rainbow Six Siege X “Oh no, it’s crashed” Error?
Table of Contents
Common Causes of the Crash
Just like most error messages, this one has quite a few potential causes.
DirectX and driver instability: DirectX 12 is less stable on some hardware setups, leading to rendering crashes during startup.
System-level audio processors: Software such as Equalizer APO, Nahimic, or Sonic Studio modifies the Windows audio chain and may conflict with the game.
Third-party overlays: Steam, Discord, GeForce Experience, or RivaTuner overlays inject code into the process, sometimes creating conflicts with the game engine.
Since these issues are system-dependent, it is important to troubleshoot step by step, applying one fix at a time and testing the game afterwards.
How to Fix Rainbow Six Siege X “Oh no, it’s crashed” Error
Below is a list of steps you can use to fix this error message in Siege X. Just work your way through them in the order you think will be most effective, as some solutions won't apply to your current system configuration.
Switch to DirectX 11
DirectX 12 can deliver higher performance in some cases, but often introduces instability. DirectX 11, on the other hand, is more mature and stable across different systems. Especially older machines.
- Open Steam and go to your Library.
- Right-click Rainbow Six Siege and select Properties.
- Under the General tab, find the Launch Options field.
- Enter dx11 and close the window.
- Relaunch the game and test for stability.

Uninstall Equalizer APO (If you're using it)
Equalizer APO modifies the audio pipeline with a low-level driver. Rainbow Six Siege X may crash during audio initialization if this driver interferes with the process.
- Press Windows + R, type appwiz.cpl, and press Enter.
- Locate Equalizer APO in the list of installed programs.
- Right-click it and select Uninstall.
- Restart your PC to ensure the driver is fully removed.
If you do not use this software, you can safely skip this step.
Enable V-Sync in NVIDIA Control Panel
When V-Sync is disabled, the GPU may attempt to render more frames than your monitor can display. This can overload the system during startup and cause crashes.
- Right-click your desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel.
- In the left menu, click Manage 3D settings.
- Under Program Settings, add Rainbow Six Siege.
- Locate Vertical sync and set it to On.
- Apply the changes and launch the game again.
Disable Steam and Discord Overlays
Both Steam and Discord overlays inject extra code to display interface elements. This can create conflicts with Rainbow Six Siege X and lead to crashes.
- Open Steam and go to your Library.
- Right-click Rainbow Six Siege and choose Properties.
- Under General, uncheck Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game.
To disable the Discord overlay:
- Open Discord and go to User Settings.
- Select Game Overlay from the left panel.
- Toggle Enable in-game overlay to Off.
Verify Integrity of Game Files
If game files are corrupted or incomplete, startup crashes are likely. Steam includes a tool to check and repair files automatically.
- Open Steam and go to your Library.
- Right-click Rainbow Six Siege and select Properties.
- Go to the Installed Files tab.
- Click Verify integrity of game files.
- Once complete, restart the game and check for stability.
Reinstall the Game
If none of the above fixes solve the issue, the final option is to reinstall Rainbow Six Siege X. This ensures that every file is replaced with a clean version and removes any hidden conflicts or corrupted data.