Game doesn't start

[Deziel]

I got a brand new system i9 with rtx 4090. Latest drivers. Windows 11 witcher 3 is the second game i install. The launcher start but when i click play, nothing happen. I can see the game is in my task manager running but there's nothing runing on my task bar... I don't understand.

[Nine the Ranger]

Game not launching?

Seeing comments on performance issues and I have no idea about them because the game just won't open.

-Launch Game
-Launcher Opens
-then nothing

Any idea what's causing this?

[srivatsa99damaraju]

Same here. It says synching with steam cloud and then nothing...
Did anyone find a solution?

[Biggles]

Steam Cloud is notoriously unreliable, turn it off or run the game outside of steam (shortcut to the .exe)

[cheshirm]

if you played before go to folder
Documents\The WItcher 3
and delete all the .settings files

also delete your mods folder in the game folder

go to the game folder then the bin folder then x64 folder (for dx11 version)
or the x64_dx12 for the dx12 version
run witcher3.exe from there
sometimes an error msg pops up (missing library, antivirus popup).

check windows event viewer AND windows reliability history. might be a game crash event. any error msg would help

check antivirus log. a new definition file may be blocking the game.

steam cloud issues:
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/68D2-35AB-09A9-7678
also look at the cloud_log.txt in folder
...\steam\logs
might tell you what the problem is

[Crumb]

Mine was crashing on launch heres what CDPR told me to do and the game works now.

Perform a clean installation again, this time following the instructions below:
1. Backup your save files (if you have any). (saves are located here: %userprofile%\Documents\The Witcher 3\gamesaves)
2. Disable Steam Cloud for The Witcher 3
3. Uninstall The Witcher 3
4. Go to the path from step #1 and remove the whole The Witcher 3 folder.
5. Go to your Steam directory and see if there is a Witcher 3 folder, if so, remove it.
6. Restart your PC
7. Install The Witcher 3 again. Do not install mods.
8. Run the game and check if it works.
9. If it's fixed, copy your save files (if you had any) to the newly created The Witcher 3 folder in the location from step #1.

[Chilybones]

Originally posted by cheshirm:

if you played before go to folder
Documents\The WItcher 3
and delete all the .settings files

also delete your mods folder in the game folder

go to the game folder then the bin folder then x64 folder (for dx11 version)
or the x64_dx12 for the dx12 version
run witcher3.exe from there
sometimes an error msg pops up (missing library, antivirus popup).

check windows event viewer AND windows reliability history. might be a game crash event. any error msg would help

check antivirus log. a new definition file may be blocking the game.

steam cloud issues:
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/68D2-35AB-09A9-7678
also look at the cloud_log.txt in folder
...\steam\logs
might tell you what the problem is

Originally posted by Crumb:

Mine was crashing on launch heres what CDPR told me to do and the game works now.

Perform a clean installation again, this time following the instructions below:
1. Backup your save files (if you have any). (saves are located here: %userprofile%\Documents\The Witcher 3\gamesaves)
2. Disable Steam Cloud for The Witcher 3
3. Uninstall The Witcher 3
4. Go to the path from step #1 and remove the whole The Witcher 3 folder.
5. Go to your Steam directory and see if there is a Witcher 3 folder, if so, remove it.
6. Restart your PC
7. Install The Witcher 3 again. Do not install mods.
8. Run the game and check if it works.
9. If it's fixed, copy your save files (if you had any) to the newly created The Witcher 3 folder in the location from step #1.

Having the exact same issue I tried both of these but it still did not work. It doesn't even launch so there is no crash log or error to look at. The only error message I have been able to produce is when I tried launching directly from the .exe which was;

The code execution cannot proceed because MSVCR120.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem.

I tried reinstalling the C++ Redistributable package but it didn't do anything either. Would you happen to have any other suggestions?

[Crumb]

Originally posted by Chilybones:

Originally posted by cheshirm:

if you played before go to folder
Documents\The WItcher 3
and delete all the .settings files

also delete your mods folder in the game folder

go to the game folder then the bin folder then x64 folder (for dx11 version)
or the x64_dx12 for the dx12 version
run witcher3.exe from there
sometimes an error msg pops up (missing library, antivirus popup).

check windows event viewer AND windows reliability history. might be a game crash event. any error msg would help

check antivirus log. a new definition file may be blocking the game.

steam cloud issues:
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/68D2-35AB-09A9-7678
also look at the cloud_log.txt in folder
...\steam\logs
might tell you what the problem is

Originally posted by Crumb:

Mine was crashing on launch heres what CDPR told me to do and the game works now.

Perform a clean installation again, this time following the instructions below:
1. Backup your save files (if you have any). (saves are located here: %userprofile%\Documents\The Witcher 3\gamesaves)
2. Disable Steam Cloud for The Witcher 3
3. Uninstall The Witcher 3
4. Go to the path from step #1 and remove the whole The Witcher 3 folder.
5. Go to your Steam directory and see if there is a Witcher 3 folder, if so, remove it.
6. Restart your PC
7. Install The Witcher 3 again. Do not install mods.
8. Run the game and check if it works.
9. If it's fixed, copy your save files (if you had any) to the newly created The Witcher 3 folder in the location from step #1.

Having the exact same issue I tried both of these but it still did not work. It doesn't even launch so there is no crash log or error to look at. The only error message I have been able to produce is when I tried launching directly from the .exe which was;

The code execution cannot proceed because MSVCR120.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem.

I tried reinstalling the C++ Redistributable package but it didn't do anything either. Would you happen to have any other suggestions?

At this point just contact cdpr support.

[cheshirm]

open up a web browser and search for msvcr120.dll. that is part of Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2013.

go to MS and download that library. run the installer with admin permission. if there is a repair option run that.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40784

the library may also be in steam folder
...\steam\steamapps\common\steamworks shared\_commonredist\vcredist\2013
run both .exe's with admin permission

[Deziel]

Same issue here and brand new system

[R4zen]

Originally posted by Deziel:

Same issue here and brand new system

Originally posted by R4zen:

Cause of the crash issue in DX11/DX12 may be:

~ Incorrect user.settings files in the <ur documents>/the Witcher 3 folder (you need to delete all user.settings/dx12user.settings files), or insufficient system privileges to run the game exe or to save game settings files in the documents folder. Running the game exe as an administrator may help with this issue.
~ Outdated or incorrect graphic drivers, lack of directX update:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35
or visual c++ redistrib update (start install_all.bat as administrator):
https://www.techpowerup.com/download/visual-c-redistributable-runtime-package-all-in-one/
no Net. Framework update, XNA framework or windows is not updated.
~ Mods or changes made to game files can cause various problems. The Steam/GOG verify/repair option may not recognize these mods, and even saves can be broken due to some mods used during the game progress. In this case, you may need to run an older save or start a new game. Uninstalling the game does not remove mods from game files, so you have to manually delete the entire game installation folder to ensure that no mods are left behind.
~ Using DVXK dlls may help some users to run DX11: - if ur GPU supports Vulkan technology, then download DXVK dll: https://forums.cdprojektred.com/index.php?threads/dx11-mode-not-starting-or-crashing-workaround.11115217/#post-13590037
~ If still not working then rollback to 4.01:

- rollback to 4.01 update, for GOG:
https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/articles/4419630535057-The-rollback-feature-reverting-to-a-previous-version-of-the-game
- for all platforms:
https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/8129?tab=posts

[Deziel]

I manage to fix it by deleting documents witcher 3 folders!

[Doublio]

So the documents thing fixes it? because i had the same issue after the newest up which is weird because right when I installed the update it worked no problem then next stopped permanently. gonna try that now and see if that also works for me

[Roshi]

This is for anyone who’s Witcher 3 client won’t start:
-Within your document folder, delete the Witcher 3 folder. Then verify the game’s integrity.

-Next set your display/monitor resolution (whichever display you plan to play Witcher 3 on) to your preferred resolution.

-If your GPU can handle the max resolution Wither 3 sets for you, then skip this part. However, be aware that if you want to change the resolution, do so outside of Witcher before starting the client or else it’ll crash.

-Now this is the tricky part. Again, Changing the resolution within the video setting in Witcher 3 **will break the game**. I tested this and I the game crashed every time as of version 4.0.4.. so..DO NOT change the resolution within Wither 3.. ever. After testing settings within graphics I noticed changing stuff like grass density, shadows and all others alike will not break the game, so change those to your liking. I have not tested changing more intense graphical settings such as ray tracing, but I believe this setting will break the game if it’s not already enabled. If it’s enabled automatically and your game is still crashing after following these steps, then repeat the steps above and disable it before starting the Witcher 3 client.

-Lastly start the game and enjoy :))
I hope this helps someone! It’s a pain in the neck of a bug.. and I bet you with every driver update you may need to repeat these steps.. Nevertheless happy hunting!

[wizard_in_darkness]

For me on Win11 when I tried to run directly on dir \bin\x64_dx12 I got an error about not having resambledmo.dll. Then searching on internet I found that this file comes with windows media which waas not installed by default. Running next command by default solve the pb and i could run the game again.

DISM /Online /Add-Capability /CapabilityName:Media.MediaFeaturePack~~~~0.0.1.0

[Doublio]

None of this works I literally tried everything. The launcher that comes up before thee game starts to select which direct x version you want to use doesn't even come up. I saw somebody post a video that had the same exact problem and he had to wipe his computer...and start all over which I'm not really wanting to try...