All games (64bit) in the library won’t launch after Catalina update

[CatwalkGhost]

Updated to Catalina and having trouble launching games from Steam client.

All games I am trying to launch are 64-bit (TW:WHII, Endless Space 2, PoE II, WH40K Mechanicus).

The behaviour is the same. The game icon will bounce for a while in the dock (several minutes) but nothing happens.

I have re-installed Steam client and it didn’t help.

Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks

[SeraphSword]

Did you reinstall from an older download of the package? Or did you download the latest client?

As far as those games go, Endless Space 2 and PoE II both have a message on their Steam store page saying they are incompatible with Catalina. The other two don't however.

If it still won't work, try creating a new user on your Mac, then trying to launch from there.

[CatwalkGhost]

Thanks for getting back to me.

I did download the latest client from store.steampowered.com. So might try creating a new user solution.

As for the games themselves, yes TW:WH 1&2 are officially 64-bit. Same goes for Mechanicus. PoEII and ES2 are 64-bit apps too.

First of all, I checked the 64-bit compatibility of the apps (including any games installed) using System Information/Applications in MacOS prior to updating to 10.15. Literally none of the games I had installed at the time showed as 32-bit.

Second, Steam has been over-zealous in labelling games as incompatible. This has already been discussed in the threads here. More specifically, here are the threads from developers of ES2: https://www.games2gether.com/amplitude-studios/endless-space-2/forums/65-general/threads/34915-mac-catalina-support

and PoE2 discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/projecteternity/comments/dhr3cd/are_poe_i_ii_macos_1016_catalina_compatible/

However, the main issue that all games, including those WITHOUT the incompatibility warning now fail to launch.

[SeraphSword]

When you are reinstalling, are you deleting all files first? Not just dragging the app to the trash, but emptying out the Application Support folders and plists? If not, it may be one of those leftover files that's causing the issue.

[CatwalkGhost]

I did clear the Steam folder in Application Support (except steamapps folder). Did a search for files containing “steam” and “valve” in their names. Deleted these too. That said TW: WH2 has launched. Mechanicus has not.

[wayne.hayes]

“ Steam has been over zealous in labelling games as incompatible”

Yes. Definitely agree. I was mortified to see a fair few games including football manager 2017 with that symbol next to it indicating it was incompatible. Yet when I launched , it loaded right up. Granted I didn’t start a proper game but I was in the main menu. Wonder why they have been over aggressive in marking such games down as incompatible. It’s inaccurate and misleading. Not that I want to bash steam. The real enemy here is Apple. As mentioned they operate as they do but it doesn’t help their popularity (at least in my eyes). I love and loathe their products and operating systems at the same time. They always used to have that ‘ itjust works’ slogan. But not anymore, their QA is sorely lacking in recent years. iOS 13 and Catalina (to a less extent) have been a particularly unpleasant bug infested experience thus far. They even bricked my expensive HomePod with a broken update but I am getttinf off topic.

[999999999]

Another user has posted about the bug.

https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/3/3166519278499204165/

Current workaround is post #20...

https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/3/3166519278499204165/?ctp=2#c1642052612847647636

[CatwalkGhost]

Thanks for sharing the discussion. The main issue for me is still slightly different. Most games, including games WITHOUT incompatibility warning, fail to launch. WH40K: Mechanicus for instance.

[wayne.hayes]

Hi mate, i have had similar issues to you with games that are supposed to be 64 bit compatible such as 'Her Story' and 'Rocket League'. Just bobbing for ages and then eventually stopping but not seeming to launch. I notice that when this happens it bottlenecks the whole mac os and launching non steam apps become excruciatingly slow. checking activity monitor shows no stand out cpu hogs with apparent low cpu usage.

Anyway I launched Rocket League and left it for probably 30 mins and eventually it loaded. similar with 'her story'. since then they are launching quickly. so it's almost as if there is in background some kind of invisible verification (maybe?) I'll see how long this holds for but am hoping it's a one time pain of waiting it out per gane. seems the bigger the game the longer the wait. maybe worth trying with one of yours.

I am pretty hacked off , i blame apple and steam in equal measure for the pain felt since catalina released!

[CatwalkGhost]

Thanks. This actually might be a solution. I (finally) managed to run Mechanics, and, yes, it took about 10–15 mins to launch. Was bouncing in the dock for a while, then launched.