Rockstar Games Error Code 18
Last Updated: May 28, 2024
Question: What can I do about the following error when trying to launch Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC?
Rockstar Games failed to initialize graphics device. Error Code: 18
Answer: This error occurs whenever there’s an issue with your Graphics API settings.
You can resolve Error Code 18 by editing the Red Dead Redemption 2 Settings.xml file and forcing the use of the default DirectX graphics API, which you can do by following the steps below:
Close Red Dead Redemption 2
Open the following file location in Windows Explorer:
C:\Users\[USERNAME]\Documents\Rockstar Games\Red Dead Redemption 2
Open the Setting.xml file for Red Dead Redemption 2 in Notepad or your preferred text editor
Locate the settings detail “kSettingAPI_Vulcan”
Change the settings detail to “kSettingAPI_DX12”
Save the changes
Restart Red Dead Redemption 2