Fix For CP2077 Launcher Not Starting/Freezing/Crashing

[Crimsomrider]

Recently as I was investigating and trying to replicate a few crashes reported by the community due to the latest 1.62 update, one of my successful crash replications permanently bricked the launcher from starting.

This is an issue that I've seen countless of others have a problem with, but I personally never got to investigate it because I simply never had it. Until now.

It's the usual symptoms; game doesn't start if launched through Steam because the launcher freezes and crashes, causing the user to entirely bypass it and have Steam not record hours/achievements etc...

So I went to investigate to see what is causing it by trying the usual methods;

• Uninstall and then manually delete all the files of the game
  
• Trying a different driver and deleting Nvidia shaders
  
• Clearing the download cache from Steam
  
• And many others...

And of course nothing worked, until I realized that the problem aren't the game's files because the launcher works if it is launched through the REDprelauncher.exe in the game's folder, but doesn't work if it's launched through Steam.

The actual cause were the Steam shadercache files located specifically here in our Steam folder where the game is installed; ...\steamapps\shadercache\1091500

These are files that Steam downloads all the time in the background as insignificantly small kb updates (shaders) for various games to make them run better and load faster, but by the looks of it sudden crashes may entirely corrupt them, which is why nothing worked.

So naturally as soon as I deleted the shadecache folder 1091500 which represents Cyberpunk's SteamID, the launcher worked once again and regenerated completely fresh shader files.

If you're having this issue, first check if REDprelauncher.exe starts the launcher for you;

• If it does, then Steam shadercache might be what's causing your launcher not to start.
  
• If it doesn't, then something else is the problem and this won't fix your launcher issues. Try setting the REDprelauncher.exe to run as admin as it seems to help some people. Or try fully uninstalling it through Windows - Settings - Installed Apps.

[dPayne]

Fix it for me.

[gnguyen817]

Did not work for me

[MeowBird]

Did not work for me. My REDprelauncher.exe crashes as well. No mods.

[Crimsomrider]

If REDprelauncher.exe is crashing, then something is either wrong with the launcher itself on your PC or something is clashing with it, but it is great that you checked as at least you know that it's not Steam shadercache causing it.

What you can try is go to Windows Settings - Apps - Installed Apps and uninstall Red Launcher program. The game will then reinstall it when it is launched again the next time.

[MadPink]

Did not work for me.

[420Llamas]

Originally posted by Crimsomrider:

If REDprelauncher.exe is crashing, then something is either wrong with the launcher itself on your PC or something is clashing with it, but it is great that you checked as at least you know that it's not Steam shadercache causing it.

What you can try is go to Windows Settings - Apps - Installed Apps and uninstall Red Launcher program. The game will then reinstall it when it is launched again the next time.

What worked for me was finding red pre launcher in the game files (\Steam\steamapps\common\Cyberpunk 2077\REDprelauncher.exe) and setting it to run as admin. It might also help to run steam as admin too.

[Crimsomrider]

Interesting, I thought the Windows privileges thingy was fixed a long time ago.

The last time admin rights were causing issues on Steam was on Windows 10 when it launched back in 2015 and it lasted up until 2016. Never had it since.

But I'm glad it works, might add it to the list of potential fixes as an alternative.

[moyer4487]

Originally posted by MeowBird:

Did not work for me. My REDprelauncher.exe crashes as well. No mods.

same here. pre launcher is not compatible is what i found using troubleshooting. i have no idea why or how to fix it or work around it

[SlurmWorm]

I have this issue right now. My temporary workaround is to navigate to the files and go into the bin/ folder and directly launch the Cyberpunk exe. It works fine. For whatever reason the REDprelauncher exe simply will not run on my system as a user or admin.