Nothing is more disruptive to the art of demon slaying than an annoying error, especially one that completely crashes your Diablo 4 game. During a couple of open beta weekends in March 2023, errors and bugs are to be expected during the mass testing phase. But one, in particular, has been exceptionally irritating and worrisome to Diablo 4 players.
Some players are getting an ‘Out of Memory’ error when playing Diablo 4, resulting in the game crashing. The error itself reads: “Diablo 4 has run out of memory and the application needs to exit.”
Related: How to fix error code 34202 in Diablo 4 beta
The problem isn’t a storage issue, it’s that your computer has run out of space for new information in its memory. A computer’s memory effectively determines how much immediate use data can be stored in order to run, and when there’s too much information, the computer is unable to handle any more. This can also lead to memory leaking, which negatively impacts memory processes on your system. This results in the game slowing down, freezing, or outright crashing.
There’s no definitive fix for this issue; that would require Blizzard to fix or optimize the performance of Diablo 4 so that it is less taxing on a computer’s RAM. But there are some methods to make the game run smoother and increase your chances of avoiding memory issues in Diablo 4.
Update drivers
A graphics card missing out on a recent update will often have trouble allocating resources and running newer games. Either open the NVIDIA or AMD program associated with your graphics card and check for the latest update, or visit the drivers webpage for whichever GPU manufacturer you use.
Disable background programs
Closing and ending background programs can clear up your computer’s memory usage. This includes browsers, capture software, and other programs that take up significant resources, especially if they’re actively streaming or downloading something.
Exit out of these programs normally, and open task manager to make sure the processes for these programs are ended if they aren’t necessary.
Lower graphics settings
If you’ve closed out on all your unnecessary background programs and are still having memory issues, consider toning down your graphics settings. While this will may reduce visual quality, it will free up memory resources that could improve performance and prevent crashing.
Dropping graphics like texture quality or view distance down a level will free up more RAM usage, or you can just select a lower overall preset graphics level for more robust changes.
If crashes due to memory issues persist, you may have a larger issue with your RAM. Exit out of all programs and use your Windows Memory Diagnostic tool.
