DISCLAIMER: USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOUR GAME NO LONGER RUNS AND YOU HAVE TO REINSTALL IT. DO NOT DELETE ANY OTHER FILES OTHER THAN THE ONES IN THIS TUTORIAL. BACK UP YOUR FILES IF YOU CAN.
Many people seem to have trouble getting Killer Instinct to run properly. Sometimes Killer Instinct will crash at the Killer Instinct logo at the start up screen. It has happened to me after the first time I loaded Killer Instinct. First I would load it, then I would change the configurations and graphic settings or update my graphics card drivers, and when I would try to load Killer Instinct again, it would crash at the Killer Instinct logo. Well, after some experimenting and some trial and error, I was able to figure out what’s causing Killer Instinct to crash and how to fix it. The problem is caused by some files that are created by the game as settings are applied. Before I begin, I should mention that I have used this on the core version for PC. I believe it should work when other bundles are purchased or the Definitive Edition.
First, you will need to locate the directory of where these files are. I will assume that the game was installed on the C drive. Go to C:\Users\YOUR USER NAME\AppData\Local\Packages. You will see a list of folders, but the one you want starts with Microsoft.KillerInstinct-Win10 followed by an underscore and a bunch of numbers and letters. If you cannot find this folder, go to the C drive and type in the search bar Killer or KillerInstinct to find the folder. Once you are in the Killer Instinct folder, go to the Settings folder. You will see a file named settings.dat. Make a backup copy of that file and then delete it. Once you delete settings.dat, try running Killer Instinct. If it runs, congratulations! You got Killer Instinct to run again. If not, copy the settings.dat file back into the Settings file.
Another file that has caused problems is cachefile.bin. I have found that file in an AMD folder since I use an AMD processor. I am not sure what the folder will be if you use an Intel or Nvidia processor. I was able to find cachefile.bin in the Killer Instinct folder at AC > AMD > DxCache.
Since files like cachefile.bin and settings.dat are configuration files, deleting them shouldn’t mess up your game. Perhaps the reason why Killer Instinct crashes on the start up screen is because the configuration files are not programmed properly. I would like to request that the development team fixes this issue. If a configuration file can’t be loaded, then that file should be replaced with a new configuration file. It’s a better solution than having the game crash simply because it can’t load a configuration file. Please fix this.