There’s no doubt that Steam is the most popular gaming platform on PC, at least in terms of the number of users. And the platform has so many users that sometimes you’re not exempt from problems, including when you install a game and it refuses to launch. If this is your case, we’re going to tell you what you can do when Steam games won’t launch .
Index
- What to do when Steam is not working
- Check that the game is not updating
- Verify game files
- Change the path of local files
- Problem with the GameOverlayRenderer64.dll file
- Problems with Windows
- Update Windows
- Update your graphics card drivers
- Run games in Compatibility mode
- Check for problems with Visual C++
Due to the different hardware, software, and connection bandwidth requirements of each game, it is not always easy to diagnose why a specific game is not working on a specific computer. In any case, below you will find the solution in most cases to these types of problems that usually occur in Steam and that are common to most users, who have reported incidents with the same origin or detected problem. What’s more, in many cases, these problems are caused by a specific configuration that you have on your PC, or by the connection itself that is not working as it should.
What to do when Steam is not working
A game not launching, believe it or not, is quite common on Steam. To fix this problem we have two options. The first is to check that the local files are OK and the other is to change the installation path or move everything to another drive. These are fairly simple processes and we are going to explain what to do to solve the problem.
Check that the game is not updating
If you use your computer for both work and play, Steam will most likely not load in the background when you start your computer. This is to reduce the amount of resources your computer consumes. This can be a problem when you want to turn on your PC and run a game, especially if it is a title that is updated regularly, as Steam will most likely be downloading an update.
When this happens, Steam does not inform us, but simply does not run the game while it downloads the corresponding update. If Steam is updating a game, this information will be displayed at the bottom center of the application. When you click on it, the details of the update will be displayed as well as the space required and the theoretical time that the computer needs to carry out the update, so the only thing we can do while it is taking place is sit and wait, especially if the update, however small, takes longer than expected.
Epic Games, on the other hand, does inform us when the game is pending an update to be installed. Steam should take note and start showing a simple window informing us of the reason why the game is not running when an update is pending to be installed. If Steam is always running in the background on our computer, as soon as a new update is available, it will be downloaded automatically in the background, so if we want to play but the game does not run, this will not be the reason and we will be forced to continue trying the solutions that we show you below these lines.
In any case, in the latest updates, when we indicate that we want to run the game it checks that there is a patch or update available, it usually adds it to the execution process, with a kind of progress bar showing what is left to download and install. And until it is finished, the program itself does not start. So in this regard, it seems that the community’s indications are having an effect in some way on the direction that Valve is taking with the store.
Verify game files
A fairly simple process to perform is to view the status of the game’s local files . All games are installed on the hard drive and there may be a problem with them for different reasons. The Steam platform itself has a system that verifies the game’s cache files. If it detects any problem in them, it directly corrects it in a simple way.
Basically, this process first checks if there is a recent version of the game and it is not installed. Then, it checks the status of the files stored on the system and if any of them have a problem, it deletes them and installs them again. Essentially, what it does is compare the local files with the ones stored on Steam servers. If any discrepancies are detected, the problem is corrected.
Completing the verification process couldn’t be easier. You must follow these steps:
- Let’s go, as it could not be otherwise, to the Steam library.
- Now we right click on the game that we cannot start.
- Now we have to, among the options we see, click on Properties.
- Now a new window will open and we must go to the Local Files tab.
- Inside, the option to Verify file integrity should appear , which is what we will click on.
- Steam will begin the process of checking local files.
- After this, the problem should be fixed.
Although this process usually fixes the problem, there is a chance that it doesn’t. For that, we leave you with another adjustment that we can make.
Change the path of local files
If we only have one storage drive, the default path is clear . But, it may be that we have a second storage drive in the system and we indicate it to Steam. It may have worked fine until now, but it fails due to different problems. The most common is that the storage drive has been removed or is having some kind of problem. Let’s see how to move the files:
- We need to go into Steam.
- Let’s go to the games library.
- We look for the game that is giving us problems and right-click on it.
- In the menu that opens, click on Properties.
- Inside the new window, we must go to Local Files.
- Here we must click on the Explore button , which is next to the size of the game and the letter of the storage drive on which it is installed.
- A Windows File Explorer window opens .
- The path should be as follows: SteamStorageDrivesteamappscommongamename .
- If it is installed on a secondary hard drive, we must click on Move installation folder.
- We will choose the Steam library folder on the main hard drive.
- Now, the problem should be fixed.
It may happen that after the file transfer, the game becomes corrupted. Therefore, we will have to verify the local game files as we have explained.
Problem with the GameOverlayRenderer64.dll file
Steam has an in-game overlay that allows us to access the application interface even while we are playing, but this sometimes causes problems from the start and prevents some games from launching. According to many users, deleting the GameOverlayRenderer64.dll file (moving the file to another location or renaming it also works) has solved their problem.
The default file location is C:ProgramFiles(x86)/Steam . This path may vary if you have installed the Valve store elsewhere.
We recommend that you do not delete the file, but instead rename it. To do this, simply select it and press F2, then type in a new name (we recommend, for example, changing the extension and renaming the file to GameOverlayRenderer64.old).
Problems with Windows
There is a chance that the problem is not with Steam, but with the operating system. It could be a compatibility issue with the game, outdated graphics drivers, or missing Visual C++ components. These problems on Windows have a fairly simple solution (for example, Senua’s Saga Hellblade II does not work on handheld PCs like Asus ROG Ally or Lenovo Legion GO due to outdated drivers and returns a black screen). Here are all the possibilities:
Update Windows
Whenever we have a performance or operation problem with Windows, the first thing we should do is check if we have any pending updates to install. Updates for both programs and operating systems are not a whim, nor are they released to look good in the eyes of users.
Each new update, especially for an operating system, includes performance and operational improvements as well as patches for various security issues that have been detected since the last revision, so if we want our computer to be fully protected, we should always update our equipment.
To check if we have any pending updates to install on our computer, we just have to press the key combination Win + i to access the configuration options. Next, we click on Update and security . Next, we access the Windows Update section and click on Check for updates. If any updates are displayed, we must click on Download to install.
Once the updates have been installed, it is recommended to restart the PC, even if the system does not prompt us to do so, as this will consolidate the installation completely and any operating problems with Steam will probably be resolved.
Update your graphics card drivers
Luckily, this problem is fairly easy to fix. Currently, both NVIDIA and AMD have their own driver management software. These programs allow for easy driver updates. While they will notify you of new drivers, it may be that you have neglected to install them at that point.
The tools of both companies are as follows:
- NVIDIA GeForce Experience
- AMD Radeon Adrenaline Software
You may not have these programs, but you should have the one that matches your graphics card. Alternatively, Windows will report new drivers or you can use Driver Booster.
Run games in Compatibility mode
If you’re only having the issue with one game and the above solutions haven’t worked, then you may have some sort of compatibility issue with your operating system. Windows 10 and 11 include a tool to run files in compatibility mode, so let’s take a look at how to do this with Steam games to see if that could be the source of the problem. Do the following step by step:
- To start, you need to know where the game is installed and what its executable file is.
- To do this, select the game from your Steam library.
- Right click with the mouse and select “Properties”.
- Then go to the “Local Files” tab and select the “View local files…” option.
- A Windows Explorer window will open showing you where the game is installed.
- There you need to locate the executable file, right-click on it and select Properties, then go to the “Compatibility” tab.
You have several options here: you can start by running the compatibility troubleshooter, disable full-screen optimizations (this often helps), or run the program in a compatibility mode for another operating system.
Check for problems with Visual C++
Some games use specific Visual C++ libraries to run, so if one of these is missing from the system then they will not run properly. Luckily you only have to look for the _CommonRedistvcredist folder in each game’s folder, inside it there is a folder called vcredist where the files that will install the necessary Visual C++ libraries are located.
If nothing we’ve explained works, then it’s time for drastic measures, which are none other than deleting all the games as well as the Steam installation. If you take the step to carry out this procedure, we recommend that before downloading anything again, you run a tool on your PC that is capable of cleaning the Windows registry and that can detect and delete any files that are saved anywhere in the operating system. With everything cleaned up, then install Steam again as well as all the games. Only in this way will you be able to enjoy your library of purchases in the Valve store without errors or failure