[Open Beta] + [Unity 6] Bug when starting VRChat
tracked
Illucio
Yesterday in Open-Beta and today in Unity 6 Beta the first time I open up and login to VRChat it fails to load and turns black. Once I close the application and reopen VRChat it runs normally. I think there may be a bug or most likely a memory leak issue. After looking at my log, during initial start up I did get:
NullReferenceException after entering my home world at start up.
The world hasn't been updated in some time and has perfectly loaded before. So is this a VRChat-Client Side issue?
Log In
K
KaaneWolf
I Did a whole lot more digging today and launched vrc hundreds of time and narrowed the issues, and concluded its not a VRCX issue. let me explain below.
if you are using the new SteamVR 2.17.4 version the issue happen when vrchat is getting launched in VR mode alongside others steam apps getting launched at the same time.
this is why for me, when VRCX was running in the background it had the auto launch feature in VRCX enabled which launches multiples other apps for me along vrchat at the same time. This launching of multiple apps along VRC will make vrchat hang in the world loading screen when you first launch it.
I tried leaving the auto launch feature of VRCX on and removed all the different apps from the auto launch folder and VRchat launch just fine every single time.
As soon as i add the multiples apps back into the vrcx launch folder, it hangs again. In my case i was trying to run these: vrcvideocacher, vrcfacetracking and babbalonia. (others steam apps getting launched alongside VRC may cause the same issue as well)
Then if all the apps are removed from the auto launch folder of VRCX and I instead manually launch these apps quickly from steam while vrchat is in the process of getting launched at the same time then the same issue happen again which prove that it is not a VRCX issue but instead a issue when one or multiple others steam apps get started/launched at the same time as VRC in VR mode.
if you individually run and start these applications before you launch VRC (for example if you make these apps launch with SteamVR first) then launch VRchat by itself afterward, then the issue does not happen.
TL;DR: To Conclude it seems to be a bug from the new SteamVR 2.17.4 and using the "Previous" branch of SteamVR fix all the issues stated above OR you also have the option to keep SteamVR 2.17.4 and individually run and start your different applications BEFORE you launch VRC (for example if you make these apps launch with SteamVR first) THEN launch VRchat BY ITSELF afterward and the issue should not happen.
WubTheCaptain
For me the workaround has been to use Launch World links from VRChat Home to see and hear the login screen sound every time.
_
_tau_
updated the status to
tracked
K
KaaneWolf
I Did a whole lot more digging today and launched vrc hundreds of time and narrowed the issues, and concluded its not a VRCX issue. let me explain below.
if you are using the new SteamVR 2.17.4 version the issue happen when vrchat is getting launched in VR mode alongside others steam apps getting launched at the same time.
this is why for me, when VRCX was running in the background it had the auto launch feature in VRCX enabled which launches multiples other apps for me along vrchat at the same time. This launching of multiple apps along VRC will make vrchat hang in the world loading screen when you first launch it.
I tried leaving the auto launch feature of VRCX on and removed all the different apps from the auto launch folder and VRchat launch just fine every single time.
As soon as i add the multiples apps back into the vrcx launch folder, it hangs again. In my case i was trying to run these: vrcvideocacher, vrcfacetracking and babbalonia. (others steam apps getting launched alongside VRC may cause the same issue as well)
Then if all the apps are removed from the auto launch folder of VRCX and I instead manually launch these apps quickly from steam while vrchat is in the process of getting launched at the same time then the same issue happen again which prove that it is not a VRCX issue but instead a issue when one or multiple others steam apps get started/launched at the same time as VRC in VR mode.
if you individually run and start these applications before you launch VRC (for example if you make these apps launch with SteamVR first) then launch VRchat by itself afterward, then the issue does not happen.
TL;DR: To Conclude it seems to be a bug from the new SteamVR 2.17.4 and using the "Previous" branch of SteamVR fix all the issues stated above OR you also have the option to keep SteamVR 2.17.4 and individually run and start your different applications BEFORE you launch VRC (for example if you make these apps launch with SteamVR first) THEN launch VRchat BY ITSELF afterward and the issue should not happen.
dorpomi
KaaneWolf IMO it doesn't make much sense, because no matter how you look at it, it's __VRC__ that's refuses to start, not any other app. So the bug may be caused by external tools, but the issue is still within VRC. If not, I'll be very curious to hear how an external tool can interrupt VRC's startup and not considered a bug
K
KaaneWolf
dorpomi its a SteamVR bug, not a vrchat bug, running the previous branch of SteamVR instead of the stable release branch does fix the issue, that is why running vrc in desktop mode doesnt have the issue because it doesnt utilize steamVR
Illucio
KaaneWolf
I can't recreate this because I already open my apps before launching into VRChat and still come into this problem. With VRCX and Facetracking. Or the apps not being on with no auto launch and going into the game.
I don't have auto launch for any app for VRChat on.
The only reliable method I found is to close and open VRChat until I hear sound from my loading screen. If it takes me straight to the initializing and loading world screen it's not going to work and I immediately leave and start up 1-3 times until I hear sound.
K
KaaneWolf
Illucio strange because a couple of my friends have that hanging issue and doing my fix seems to all have fixed their issues, are you sure there is no 3rd party app set to launch along vrc like vrcvideocacher for example
Illucio
KaaneWolf I manually remove VRCVideocacher via console after downloading it for a few days. I can ensure you, that's not it.
I do have 3rd party steam apps for VRChat, but again, they are also on disable. Sometimes I launch Steam and it will say "It's disabled apps at launch" when Steam initially crashes at launch, but they were already disabled.
This sounds like a problem other people are experiencing on startup, but it doesn't sound like the problem I am experiencing.
Flux_Knot
I have to tell Steam to use the previous version of SteamVR after it force updated to the latest SteamVR last night. It works fine on the previous version. If I leave it on the updated version of SteamVR, the game DOES start and shows the thumbnail for my homeworld, but gets stuck on the "Connecting" screen apparently forever while my GPU pins at 100%. I waited a couple minutes with it stuck in this state before giving up, reverting to the previous version of SteamVR and then it worked fine afterwards.
K
KaaneWolf
Flux_Knot check my latest reply in this thread im pretty sure i narrowed down the problem
dorpomi
Flux_Knot I made a report about this, pretty sure it's VRC being uncapped and just maxing out the frames for no reason, but it just got closed: https://feedback.vrchat.com/bug-reports/p/uncapped-100-gpu-usage-during-connecting-or-joining-screens
Artsy_Moon
Okay so me and KaaneWolf discovered that users that have vrcx running on launch have been having this issue and when we both decided to not have vrcx launched when booting vrchat it fixed the issue. We dont know why or how but wee tested it 10 times without vrcx and 10 times with vrcx and every single time it worked without vrcx launch when you first boot vrchat. This may not be the solution for everyone but it worked for me and Kaane. I hope this helps but it could still absolutely be a bug with steamvr or even vrcx or both.
StormRel
Merged in a post:
vrchat stuck on connecting since new steamvr update
Artsy_Moon
I tried launch on desktop and i even tried restarting steamvr after rebooting vrchat on desktop then launching steamvr and trying it still gets stuck on connecting. This has been an issue since the steamvr introduced this update in beta months ago. I really hope this can be fixed soon
mdogwoop
This bug originates from Valve and has remained unfixed since version 2.17.4 beta. This is the bug report thread I opened on the Steam Community. Please leave comments on the thread so that Valve will pay more attention to this issue:
StarrydustNova
I'm also in the same boat. Haven't tried again myself yet with the stable release, but I thought maybe Valve might somehow address the issue once it came out of beta. Sounds like they haven't... oh dear.
K
KaaneWolf
StarrydustNova check my latest reply in this thread im pretty sure i narrowed down the problem
_Sapphy
I tried to make this known when the steamvr beta released, but nothing happened and now steamvr main no longer boots vrchat on main or beta. You have to use the steamvr "previous version" to play at the moment
K
KaaneWolf
Since that new vrc update or steamvr update today (September 10th 2026) when launching vrc in steam vr mode (im using unity 6 beta if that change anything) i get hung at the world loading screen with a blackscreen when looking at the desktop view and in my headset view i get the loading world screen forever and it stays hung there forever, as soon as i launch vrc in desktop mode, its totally fine and work, then you get back in vr mode and you get the same issues again, noticed that clearing the cache fully (aka wipe all your vr setting and the such) fix the issue but as soon as you recustomize your stuff and close vrc and relauch it you are right back at the same problem again, did some diggin and found a quick and temporary workaround until the issue get fixed by vrc and its to add "--clear-cache" without the quotes to the vrchat launch options in steam and it works everytime, it only clear worlds and avatar cache so if you have a fast internet connection to redownload stuff quick it work as a temporary fix for now.
vrchat please fix this asap.
EDIT: the cache launch option doesnt work for me anymore apparently but the bug come from somewhere else, if you are running VRCX (the 3rd party application tool) closing it before launching VRC also fix the issues, as soon as vrchat run you can relaunch VRCX and its all good, i think VRCX need to update their app or something perhaps
Load More
→