There’s little doubt that Genshin Impact, one the most popular games in the world currently, has revolutionized the gaming industry. It features an innovative business model, one that has endeared it to players worldwide. Genshin Impact followed the same plan Fortnite used to rock the world, but improved upon it. Whereas Fortnite is a competitive, multiplayer-only game attracting a niche market, Genshin Impact appeals to a much broader audience.
One of the best things Genshin Impact did was taking inspiration from the critically acclaimed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild. With a similar art style, character design and fantasy setting, it swiftly rose in popularity worldwide. Unlike Breath of The Wild, though, you don’t need a $300 console and a TV to play this game. Genshin Impact developer miHoYo cleverly designed a world with just as much content that could run even on smartphones.
Within a few weeks of its launch, Genshin Impact swept made headlines for having an enormous player count. Unlike another extremely mainstream game that lost most of its players within a month, Genshin Impact continues to thrive. And the hype it generated was certainly justified. Players quickly became invested in the complexity and depth of the world the game created.
There’s always a downside to updates, though, and this exceptional game is not exempt. With every update, there’s always some pesky glitches and errors that slip through the cracks and into the code. It looks like the most recent update has caused some issues, causing fans to complain on Twitter. According to one user, this Genshin Impact fatal startup error code 9004 makes the game completely unplayable.
https://twitter.com/sasquatchgurl/status/1360087843092234240
Genshin Impact Error Code 9004 crashes game while trying to launch
After looking into it, Genshin Impact error code 9004 seems to happen when people try to start the game up. Apparently, the error immediately stops the launcher from booting the game up, which means you get stuck on a loading screen that never completes. In other cases, such as on mobile, people who experience the error could just be unable to get to the log-in stage, as the game crashes and refuses to open fully.
If you’re facing error code 9004 and don’t know what to do, rest assured the matter can be resolved. We have compiled a shortlist of things you can do to fix the game on your own, in simple, easy steps.
Easy Fixes For Genshin Impact Error Code 9004
While every user will have a different experience using these fixes, there are several advantages to trying them. For one, they’re the quickest and most simple to do at home, meaning that you can do these without any risk to your system. Secondly, they’re the first options customer support will consider, so it helps already having tried them if you go that route. Third, it can’t hurt, so why not, right?
1. Restart your PC/ Phone/ PlayStation
There’s nothing as effective as the age-old method of cold rebooting a system. Not only is this the quickest and least complicated route, it also ends up working the most. Keep in mind, though, that what you’re going for is a complete refresh of all the cached data the game has in the background. In this case, simply turning off your screen or going into sleep won’t help.
For a PC, hold the power button down until the screen goes black, and all lights on your device turn off. Give it a minute in this state, then power it back on. On a mobile, select the Genshin Impact app and go to settings, then choose ‘delete data cache’. Then press the restart button. On PlayStation, hold the power button down till complete shutdown, then disconnect the power adapter for a minute. Plug it back in and power it on, and hopefully the error code 9004 will be gone.
2. Reinstall the game
While this can sometimes be the most tedious aspect of repairs, it can also be on of the most successful steps. During download, a lot of data is either dropped or misplaced, and even more so during install. The only way to fix errors like this is to erase it all and start from scratch. This is especially true on mobile and console.
On mobile, make sure you delete not only Genshin Impact, but also any related residual files the game leaves behind. It’s best to use a cleaner app to make sure you’ve wiped your memory completely before reinstall.
3. On PS4 and PS5, you can rebuild game databases
If you hold down the power button on the PlayStation 4, or any of its sibling consoles, as well as on the PlayStation 5, you should be able to hear a distinct chime after keeping it pressed for a bit. This is a special feature exclusive to PlayStation. It is an indicator of a different mode, designed for repairing games. As such, it’s called Safety Mode.
Once you’re in Safety Mode, you can go to Genshin Impact’s settings and choose to rebuild the game’s database. Essentially, this analyses the code for the game and looks for mistakes. It might take a while, but it could be the fastest way to fix a game. Hey, it’s always faster than a complete reinstall, so why not try it first?
4. On PC, update game drivers
The oldest trick in the book can be one of the most useful sometimes. In case you’re not familiar with game drivers, then here’s a brief explanation to get you up to speed. The world that you see in Genshin Impact is fleshed out entirely by special memory in your PC dedicated to making 3D objects. This memory is stored in your Graphics Card, and it is essential to running a game.
Graphics Cards interface with the rest of the system by means of programs called ‘drivers’. However, as new games are released, or updated, new drivers are constantly being added too. This means that if your game is running the newest version, but your Graphics Card is used to the old one, you might experience errors. In order to avoid this, go to the GeForce Experience app if you’re using Nvidia cards, or here if you’re using AMD Graphics Cards.