"Vulkan Initialization Failure" Error

[PetrichorAnt]

Hello! I just got No Man's Sky, but upon trying to start the game, I get this error Message:

Unable to initialize Vulkan (vkEnumerateInstanceExtensionProperties
failed.) You may not have a Vulkan driver installed, or an old driver on
your machine may be corrupted.

Please refer to https://hellogames.zendesk.com/for details.

I've gone to that website, downloaded a driver update for nvidia as recommended, and then it didn't work because of an outdated Java version so I got the latest Java and it still didn't work, then I found somebody who's game had stopped working since the whole Vulkan update and tried following their solution which didn't work, and then continued to rummage around for solutions for 4 more hours and couldn't find anything that worked. Some help would be greatly appreciated!

[SpaceStationMax]

me too

[F4K0N]

me too :(

[Captain.Jartyk]

1. Make sure you have a compatible graphics card.
This wiki page lists them,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulkan_(API)

2. Install driver that supports Vulkan.
For Nvidia cards. https://developer.nvidia.com/vulkan-driver
or
For AMD cards. https://www.amd.com/en/technologies/vulkan
or
If you have something else, check out its manufacturer's website.

3. NMS also needs these C ++ libraries, 2010, 2013, 2017.
You can find them in Steam, in this folder.
Steam \ steamapps \ common \ Steamworks Shared \ _CommonRedist \ vcredist \

[PetrichorAnt]

Originally posted by Captain.Jartyk:

1. Make sure you have a compatible graphics card.
This wiki page lists them,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulkan_(API)

2. Install driver that supports Vulkan.
Nvidia. https://developer.nvidia.com/vulkan-driver
or
AMD. https://www.amd.com/en/technologies/vulkan

3. NMS also needs these C ++ libraries, 2010, 2013, 2017.
You can find them in Steam, in this folder.
Steam \ steamapps \ common \ Steamworks Shared \ _CommonRedist \ vcredist \

Thank you so much for your help! So, I checked my graphics card, and it's an "Intel(R) HD Graphics 5500" is that compatible?

[PetrichorAnt]

Originally posted by Le Monke:

Happened to me too. Did you scan through the NVidia website for the correct driver?

Well, I tired, but then it just said the thing about needing the latest version of Java, so I did that and it still won't scan.

[Captain.Jartyk]

Originally posted by Slime Prime:

Thank you so much for your help! So, I checked my graphics card, and it's an "Intel(R) HD Graphics 5500" is that compatible?

Don't know Intel's GPUs, but after a bit of googling, it doesn't seem to work with Vulkan, on windows anyway, no driver supporting it.
But if you run Linux, there seems to be drivers.

[japp_02]

Reinstall the game and let the game update finish its work before you start game. That's always the thing to do if your computer has the required specs and there are 'suddenly' problems.

[Captain.Jartyk]

Originally posted by Slime Prime:

I've gone to that website, downloaded a driver update for nvidia as recommended, and then it didn't work

Originally posted by Le Monke:

Happened to me too. Did you scan through the NVidia website for the correct driver?

Originally posted by Slime Prime:

So, I checked my graphics card, and it's an "Intel(R) HD Graphics 5500"

Saw this now, you have an Intel GPU, then it won't work with a driver from Nvidia, lol.

[Vargali]

guess i'm now in a similar boat here, just bought the game and got the same "Unable to initialize Vulkan (vkEnumerateInstanceExtensionProperties
failed.) You may not have a Vulkan driver installed, or an old driver on
your machine may be corrupted.

Please refer to https://hellogames.zendesk.com/for details." msg... only i have a twist.. every time i go for driver checks it tells me they are ALL up to date... even manual installs of updated drivers fail... they simply refuse to complete an install.. last attempt even counted deleting old drivers to force it, and now it refuses to recognize the device, aka the video card... pisses me of, never had more trouble with windows and drivers since 10 was rammed down our throats.... heavens help us when win 11 gets rammed down our throats as well....

[Mr. Bufferlow]

Originally posted by Vargali:

guess i'm now in a similar boat here, just bought the game and got the same "Unable to initialize Vulkan (vkEnumerateInstanceExtensionProperties
failed.) You may not have a Vulkan driver installed, or an old driver on
your machine may be corrupted.

Please refer to https://hellogames.zendesk.com/for details." msg... only i have a twist.. every time i go for driver checks it tells me they are ALL up to date... even manual installs of updated drivers fail... they simply refuse to complete an install.. last attempt even counted deleting old drivers to force it, and now it refuses to recognize the device, aka the video card... pisses me of, never had more trouble with windows and drivers since 10 was rammed down our throats.... heavens help us when win 11 gets rammed down our throats as well....

Depending on the age of your rig, it is possible it does not support Vulkan. You would need to upgrade hardware or probably a better option would be to buy a newer rig. You should be able to google to find out if your hardware supports Vulkan.

[Captain.Jartyk]

Originally posted by Vargali:

guess i'm now in a similar boat here, just bought the game and got the same "Unable to initialize Vulkan

every time i go for driver checks it tells me they are ALL up to date... even manual installs of updated drivers fail... they simply refuse to complete an install..

never had more trouble with windows and drivers since 10 was rammed down our throats.... heavens help us when win 11 gets rammed down our throats as well....

If your graphics card does not support Vulkan in its hardware, updating the drivers cannot fix it.
The only solution then, is to replace the hardware (graphics card) with something that works with Vulkan.

So you need to research which graphics card you have, and if it supports Vulkan.
And if it doesn't support Vulkan, then find a suitable newer card, which will work in your computer.

An alternative could be to upgrade to a brand new computer.
A third option is to request a refund, as you cannot start the game.

To find out what your computer contains, you can get a detailed list in Steam's help menu (system information)

And as for Windows 11.
I upgraded my computer to it shortly after it was released, almost a year ago now, and haven't had any problems with it.
But I have a fairly new powerful gaming computer, so maybe that's why.

[Jeo Nugu]

All nVidia GeForce drivers already have Vulkan support fully built-in (according to the Vulkan home page), and they simply redirect you to nVidia's standard driver page for GeForce drivers. There is no need to install a separate Vulkan driver if you have a reasonably recent nVidia card. (I would assume the same is true for AMD.)

That being said, even after I fully re-installed my nVidia driver (the one released just a few days ago), I'm still getting the Vulkan initialization failure error.

[Jeo Nugu]

Also reinstalled the game... same error.

Fresh driver install, fresh game install, no fix.

[Musashi]

Which GPU do you have ?
Could you ever play NMS before ?

[Vargali]

for me i run an MSI Dominator Pro laptop, changing hardware is sadly not an option... and the way the windows build on this machine is working, i literally need a microsoft tech to even do ANYTHING with drivers... this machine is pre-Vulkan, which is why i tried a driver update.... and since the game was also made pre-Vulkan, i'm surprised there is no option to load in either mode.... at this point i'll just wait till i can get/build a new machine....