SOLVED: No game saves can be loaded (even new campaigns)

[Mr. Sun]

Hello there! I just re-installed the Witcher 3 to start a new campaign, and played a few hours, to find that I cannot load any of the saves I created for that run, nor any of the saves downloaded by Steam Cloud Sync.

I have tried re-installing the game, starting a new campaign and saving, restarting my computer, verifying the integrity of the cache via Steam, deleting specific folders and redownloading (DLC in Witcher 3 steamapps, savegame folder in Documents) and running the game as administrator (as well as disabling controlled folder access in malware protection settings).

The game runs perfectly on my Windows 10 laptop, apart from this frustrating issue.
The error reads: "Save game data appears to be damaged and cannot be loaded".

Has anyone experienced the same? Are there any known fixes? I have had a pretty thorough look online but haven't found any solutions that worked for me.

Hoping to be able to play this beautiful game soon. Thanks.

[Tanooxares]

Are you using any sorts of mods? cause I remember I had the same problem before and I deleted some of the mods that I was using, then the problem was gone.

[Mr. Sun]

I'm not using any mods at all, completely vanilla install.

[max.strauss]

Originally posted by DORCO PIO:

The error reads: "Save game data appears to be damaged and cannot be loaded".

Upload one of these saves and post the link. Afterwards we know if it's really a corrupt save.

[Mr. Sun]

Originally posted by lolz.:

Hello there!

You said that you played a few hours first, do you mean that you started a new playthrough and that you didn't use previous saves?
Were those hours in one go? Or did you play one hour, closed the game, then played again?

I've done both of these! First time, started a new playthrough for ~4 hours and then tried to reload a bit later and the save wouldn't load. After that would play through the first 20 min and then save, and try to reload directly from the game, though that also didn't work. Also yes, I did not use old saves (though I tried and they also didn't work).

[Mr. Sun]

Originally posted by max.strauss:

Originally posted by DORCO PIO:

The error reads: "Save game data appears to be damaged and cannot be loaded".

Upload one of these saves and post the link. Afterwards we know if it's really a corrupt save.

Ok, here is a link with all of my current saves. These are from 2 separate attempts to start a new campaign and save. Witcher 3 Documents Folder with Saves [drive.google.com]

[max.strauss]

I was able to load one of your saves too. Geralt followed Vesemir to the next village, and I saved manually. Try if you can load this save:

https://1drv.ms/u/s!Am4zExA1CS4YgQYTMxKi3zC5Cucj?e=nTsJ2Z

[Mr. Sun]

Hey guys, thank you for the troubleshooting help! So I've tried both of these 1. moving the saves, starting a new campaign and saving, then loading, and 2. downloading @max.strauss' save file and loading. They resulted in the same error as listed in the main post.

I think its fair to assume this is a system permissions / game file access issue, though it is still strange that running the game as administrator does not fix it.

I have read online that it can be problematic to have the saves / game.exe in the C:/ drive, does this ring bells with anyone?

[Mr. Sun]

Originally posted by lolz.:

Originally posted by DORCO PIO:

Hey guys, thank you for the troubleshooting help! So I've tried both of these 1. moving the saves, starting a new campaign and saving, then loading, and 2. downloading @max.strauss' save file and loading. They resulted in the same error as listed in the main post.

I think its fair to assume this is a system permissions / game file access issue, though it is still strange that running the game as administrator does not fix it.

I have read online that it can be problematic to have the saves / game.exe in the C:/ drive, does this ring bells with anyone?

You did disable cloud sync right? Just asking to be sure.

Question, when you say you can't load them, you try to load them, then what happens? Does the game close?

Yes I have disabled cloud sync! I get a popup stating 'Save game data appears to be damaged and cannot be loaded' - the game does not crash, or exit.

[cheshirm]

sounds like the game cannot read your Documents\The Witcher 3\gamesaves folder but can write to it.

check antivirus log. might be blocking game.

check windows security/controlled folder access. if on, add exception for game.

[Mr. Sun]

Originally posted by cheshirm:

sounds like the game cannot read your Documents\The Witcher 3\gamesaves folder but can write to it.

check antivirus log. might be blocking game.

check windows security/controlled folder access. if on, add exception for game.

Yes exactly! Where does one check the antivirus log on Windows? And I have disabled controlled folder access, and added the witcher3.exe as an exclusion to Windows Security, neither of which fixed the issue.

[cheshirm]

go to folder Documents
rename folder "The Witcher 3" to something else.
run the game so that it recreates the folder.
start a new game and play until you can save then save.
exit game.
start game. can you load that previous save? if yes move your saves from your old, renamed The Witcher 3\gamesaves folder to the current gamesaves folder. can you load the old saves now?

[Mr. Sun]

Originally posted by cheshirm:

go to folder Documents
rename folder "The Witcher 3" to something else.
run the game so that it recreates the folder.
start a new game and play until you can save then save.
exit game.
start game. can you load that previous save? if yes move your saves from your old, renamed The Witcher 3\gamesaves folder to the current gamesaves folder. can you load the old saves now?

Unfortunately I tried this and it didn't work either. I think it may be a permissions error with the Documents folder itself, though I have not had any other errors and have disabled read-only mode so not sure what more to do :/

[cheshirm]

perhaps create a new local windows account with a simple login name like "games".
logout. login with the new account. see if the game saves and you can load saves.

[opjose]

Originally posted by DORCO PIO:

Yes exactly! Where does one check the antivirus log on Windows? And I have disabled controlled folder access, and added the witcher3.exe as an exclusion to Windows Security, neither of which fixed the issue.

Also check that those folders and parent folders are set to Read/Write and that "System" and your user account both have R/W rights.

[Esmariatumadre]

Hello,

I encountered the same problem today. Im unable to play because my game freeze in the loading screen every time i try to continue or load a save. I even tried to launch a new save but it didnt work either. The game worked perfectly yesterday.

I uninstalled the game, reinstalled it, restarted my computer, checked for virus, tried to use differents saves...

If any of u have a solution, ill take it