red dead redemption 2 a game is currently running but not opening

[Untaaaaa]

pls help

[HRRoach]

EZ got to task manager, find red dead in the list of processes, right click, end task. try again.

[Westford]

Unfortunately the EZ method never worked for me.
I have been getting this error message quite a bit after the last couple of updates,
would start the game, and error message would say that the game is already running.

I too checked the task manager, with the intent to "End the Process",
but there was no RDR2.exe process running.

System Restart would not fix the issue.

The only thing that worked for me was to "Verify Integrity of Game Files"

Steam Help Link

[HRRoach]

Originally posted by Westford:

Unfortunately the EZ method never worked for me.
I have been getting this error message quite a bit after the last couple of updates,
would start the game, and error message would say that the game is already running.

I too checked the task manager, with the intent to "End the Process",
but there was no RDR2.exe process running.

System Restart would not fix the issue.

The only thing that worked for me was to "Verify Integrity of Game Files"

Steam Help Link

If the game is running it will be in task manager. No other reason it will say it is running.look under processes and scroll past the first list to the next section. When any game does that, the process is not in the upper portion as it should be, scroll to the .exe it will be there if you get that error.

[Westford]

Originally posted by HRRoach:

If the game is running it will be in task manager. No other reason it will say it is running.look under processes and scroll past the first list to the next section. When any game does that, the process is not in the upper portion as it should be, scroll to the .exe it will be there if you get that error.

I appreciate your insistence that the error message displayed from the Rockstar Launcher
is correct, and that the game is already running.
ie; there is currently an RDR2.exe process running.

Unfortunately in my case, and perhaps the OP's case, this is not the issue.
I am familiar enough with the Windows OS to scroll down the list of processes currently
running in the Task Manager, and in each instance of this Rockstar Launcher error message,
there was no RDR2.exe process running.

Again, the only solution I have found so far is to "Verify Integrity of Game Files".
This is what has worked for me.

[Shaken_Widow]

Originally posted by HRRoach:

Originally posted by Westford:

Unfortunately the EZ method never worked for me.
I have been getting this error message quite a bit after the last couple of updates,
would start the game, and error message would say that the game is already running.

I too checked the task manager, with the intent to "End the Process",
but there was no RDR2.exe process running.

System Restart would not fix the issue.

The only thing that worked for me was to "Verify Integrity of Game Files"

Steam Help Link

If the game is running it will be in task manager. No other reason it will say it is running.look under processes and scroll past the first list to the next section. When any game does that, the process is not in the upper portion as it should be, scroll to the .exe it will be there if you get that error.

that's not even remotely true.

before the games process appears there's a second one for the rockstar launcher.

rdr2.exe doesn't show up until it actually starts.

when you click "play" in steam, it's not launching the game.

it's launching a script to run the rockstar launcher first, and then telling the rockstar launcher to start the game.

so the reality is that rockstar launcher is stalling and not starting the game.

[HRRoach]

If the error is "process already running" I promise you that A process is running. restart steam verify files exit steam again. Now restart your pc. open steam, click the game shortcut not the launcher shortcut. Now it should work, if you still get that error look again at process and find whichever process is running related to rdr2 or launcher or rockstar. Any external programs that relate like mods, or vortex, SOMETHING in a process still has game files open.

[Fail]

Originally posted by HRRoach:

If the error is "process already running" I promise you that A process is running. restart steam verify files exit steam again. Now restart your pc. open steam, click the game shortcut not the launcher shortcut. Now it should work, if you still get that error look again at process and find whichever process is running related to rdr2 or launcher or rockstar. Any external programs that relate like mods, or vortex, SOMETHING in a process still has game files open.

Lose the arrogance. The error appears even if it's the first thing you do after booting your computer up. It can't possibly be already running, and it isn't.
If you have nothing useful to contribute to the problem solving then kindly ♥♥♥♥ off.

[Westford]

Originally posted by HRRoach:

If the error is "process already running"

The error is NOT "process already running" I

The Rockstar Launcher error IS "The game is already running"

A system restart, which will;
- End all processes
- Clears the memory
- Restarts Steam

is NOT the solution for this issue.

The only solution that has worked for me thus far,
is to "Verify integrity of game files"
And that's it.

No need to reboot, restart Steam , etc....
Just "Verify integrity of game files"

I think @Shaken_Widow’s explanation is the most plausible.

As to why the Rockstar Launcher is stalling,
I have no idea.

Why Verifying integrity of game files corrects this issue,
I don't know.

Can't remember if I took the time to look at either
the Windows system or application logs,
although I doubt either would shed any light into this issue.

Not sure if there is a "verbose" or "debug" option available
for the Launcher to output a meaningful log file.

In any case, we have probably beat this Topic
into submission, and hopefully the OP has gotten past this issue.

EDIT:
One thing I should mention about my environment, is that I play
Single Player only, with mods, and the Scripthook asi loader.

When I 1st encountered this error, my 1st thought was the mods and asi loader
might be the cause of this issue. (as @HRRoach mentions)

I really did not want to go through the painstaking task of removing all mods and asi loader to see if this fixed this issue.
So on a whim, I Verified integrity of game files, and that fixed the issue.

The OP did not say whether he was using mods or not.
Cheers

[Fail]

Originally posted by Untaaaaa:

pls help

For me at least, an update for the r* launcher released and has solved this particular issue

It'd be worth trying again now, and seeing if you're as fortunate

[Man o' War]

Close R* processes in Task Manager.

[Teodormester]

Originally posted by HRRoach:

EZ got to task manager, find red dead in the list of processes, right click, end task. try again.

But if I close it I will need to open it again and it will keep saying that its already running. When i start it, it will start running in the background and I can't play it like that, I don't even ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ understand this piece of crap.

[Gear]

Lol, I'm stuck with this right now. I can't believe these guys saying reboot or kill the process do not understand that it's the first thing you do without even having anything about RG in the processes. I'm baffled !

[Gear]

A support with RG solved my issue. WeMod had folders left on my system even though it was uninstalled. After deleting those folders, the game started normally. GO FIGURE !

[ttv TwoTwinzGame]

Any updates here? I'm dealing with the same issue as the OP, deleted everything, reinstalled everything, checked running processes, no RDR2 exe to be found, just rockstar launcher saying "Loading" and steam showing "Game is Currently Running" and it won't load. No Mods have ever been installed.

[LitePack]

Hit the same issue today after steam update.
- Restarted computer - no effect
- Searched task manager - no running app

Currently validating the files and awaiting to see if this works.