Game simply wont start, but shows up in background

[Dday47]

The first time, the game launched fine, but now when I try to start it, there's a pinwheel next to my cursor for a few seconds, and then it disappears. Despite this, Steam still shows the game as running, and Task Manager confirms it's active in the background.

My setup:

GPU: RTX 4090
CPU: i9-14900K (No overclock)
RAM: 64GB
OS: Windows 11

Here are the troubleshooting steps I've already tried:

Updated/downgraded multiple NVIDIA drivers.
Experimented with different launch parameters in the game properties
Uninstalled and reinstalled the game
Verified game files
Ran the game in administrator mode
Tried Windows 8 compatibility mode
Deleted files from the game-slot folder
Deleted files from the Saved Games folder under Users
Tried running the game's own "Safe mode"

I think we may have to wait for a patch at this point, but I figured I'd at least post my personal experience

[KaneKool]

Did you buy game legally or ripped from internet ?

[Dday47]

Originally posted by KaneKool:

Did you buy game legally or ripped from internet ?

Good question, it was legally

[Venky]

you must be using dlss, delete save files, completely and start game, and play without dlss, it will work! i wasted a day because of this!

[Dday47]

Originally posted by Venky:

you must be using dlss, delete save files, completely and start game, and play without dlss, it will work! i wasted a day because of this!

I tried this too, I deleted all the safe files from the remote>game-slot folder, as well as the files in users > Saved Games. Still not working

[Moam]

Originally posted by Dday47:

The first time, the game launched fine, but now when I try to start it, there's a pinwheel next to my cursor for a few seconds, and then it disappears. Despite this, Steam still shows the game as running, and Task Manager confirms it's active in the background.

My setup:

GPU: RTX 4090
CPU: i9-14900K (No overclock)
RAM: 64GB
OS: Windows 11

Here are the troubleshooting steps I've already tried:

Updated/downgraded multiple NVIDIA drivers.
Experimented with different launch parameters in the game properties
Uninstalled and reinstalled the game
Verified game files
Ran the game in administrator mode
Tried Windows 8 compatibility mode
Deleted files from the game-slot folder
Deleted files from the Saved Games folder under Users
Tried running the game's own "Safe mode"

I think we may have to wait for a patch at this point, but I figured I'd at least post my personal experience

hmm have you noticed your CPU is at 100% whilst this is happening? I have just checked mine since I have the same one as you and spotted this on mine.

[Dday47]

Originally posted by Moam:

hmm have you noticed your CPU is at 100% whilst this is happening? I have just checked mine since I have the same one as you and spotted this on mine.

No, it's like at 4% total, the game uses 0%

[Flatline]

Same problem. I am redownloading to see if that helps. I played on the 6th and now it won't start

[Dday47]

Originally posted by Flatline:

Same problem. I am redownloading to see if that helps. I played on the 6th and now it won't start

Good luck man, that didn't work for me. I just installed an 800+MB update too just now. Still nothing.

[Dday47]

Originally posted by Flatline:

Same problem. I am redownloading to see if that helps. I played on the 6th and now it won't start

So... the game actually launches... but it takes like 10 minutes. Steam will immediately say the game is running, and the game shows up in task manager, but after 10 minutes the game truly starts. Never had that issue before.

[Akko]

I'm having the same issue, did anyone figure out a fix? I've tried everything in this thread, still takes 15 minutes to actually launch, if it does launch.

[Dday47]

Originally posted by Akko:

I'm having the same issue, did anyone figure out a fix? I've tried everything in this thread, still takes 15 minutes to actually launch, if it does launch.

Still no fix for me. I opened a ticket with Bethesda

[MisterFU]

If you're experiencing this issue (symptoms are that the GameRepair script runs for a considerable time, eventually Steam indicates that the game has started, but it doesn't actually launch and there is no running game process), it's most likely due to the Xbox app needing to be updated. Launch the Xbox app and ensure you can login with your Microsoft account, and that there are no pending updates.

It appears this issue can appear anytime there's an update to the Xbox app that is pending, so if you hit this issue, even after you've been playing the game, or if this happens on first startup, the issue is likely still the Xbox app update blocking the GameRepair service from performing its checks and hanging up the startup of the game. This is clearly a QA test case they didn't account for.

Please note that this is not the same issue is the gaming launching to a blank screen or hanging after the logo screen,

Hopefully this helps those who hit this issue.

[Dday47]

Originally posted by MisterFU:

If you're experiencing this issue (symptoms are that the GameRepair script runs for a considerable time, eventually Steam indicates that the game has started, but it doesn't actually launch and there is no running game process), it's most likely due to the Xbox app needing to be updated. Launch the Xbox app and ensure you can login with your Microsoft account, and that there are no pending updates.

It appears this issue can appear anytime there's an update to the Xbox app that is pending, so if you hit this issue, even after you've been playing the game, or if this happens on first startup, the issue is likely still the Xbox app update blocking the GameRepair service from performing its checks and hanging up the startup of the game. This is clearly a QA test case they didn't account for.

Please note that this is not the same issue is the gaming launching to a blank screen or hanging after the logo screen,

Hopefully this helps those who hit this issue.

This fixed it. I can’t thank you enough man. I was going crazy