Game won't launch after Update 44725 on Steam

[FoggyDrop491716]

GAME INFORMATION

^{These details are CRITICAL; DO NOT skip them or your issue may not be reviewed.}

• GAME BUILD #: Update 44725
• GAME PLATFORM: Steam
• OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 10

ISSUE EXPERIENCED

^{DESCRIBE THE ISSUE IN DETAIL (below). LIMIT TO ONE BUG PER THREAD.}
Will not launch at all after update. Hit Play button from Steam, turns Blue for a few seconds, then just changes back to Play. Rebooted several times and cleared download cache. Same behavior.

FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

^{How often does the issue occur? CHOSE ONE; DELETE THE REST!}

• 100% of the time / matches I play (ALWAYS)

REPRODUCTION STEPS

^{List CLEAR and DETAILED STEPS we can take to reproduce the issue ourselves… Be descriptive!}

Here’s the steps to reproduce the issue:

1. Hit Play

EXPECTED RESULT

^{What was SUPPOSED to happen if the bug you encountered were not present?}

Game would launch like it did before the update was downloaded and installed.

IMAGE

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GAME FILES (SAVE / RECORDING)

^{Attach a SAVE GAME (.aoe2spgame) or GAME RECORDING (.aoe2record) of the match where you encountered the issue. Link it below if using an external file service.}

[SourMantella105]

Exact same issue. Reinstalled the game from Steam, no change in behaviour. Simply won’t launch.

[SourMantella105]

Problem solved by whitelisting the program in my antivirus. It somehow did not notify me and did not put aoe2_DE_s.exe on the blacklist, but it seems it did. After whitelisting it explicitly the game works again. See also: After installing an update, the game crashes shortly after launch. – Age of Empires Support

[TheDesertRocker]

GAME INFORMATION

^{These details are CRITICAL; DO NOT skip them or your issue may not be reviewed.}

• GAME BUILD #: ######
• GAME PLATFORM: Xbox Game Pass
• OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 10

ISSUE EXPERIENCED

^{DESCRIBE THE ISSUE IN DETAIL (below). LIMIT TO ONE BUG PER THREAD.}

New update was downloaded and now the game wont open.
Simply crashes

FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

^{How often does the issue occur? CHOSE ONE; DELETE THE REST!}

• 100% of the time / matches I play (ALWAYS)

REPRODUCTION STEPS

^{List CLEAR and DETAILED STEPS we can take to reproduce the issue ourselves… Be descriptive!}

Here’s the steps to reproduce the issue:

1. open the game
2. allow Microsoft Store Package Dependancy installer access to my PC
   3.error appears with the error code 0xlx

EXPECTED RESULT

^{What was SUPPOSED to happen if the bug you encountered were not present?}

the game is suppost to run

IMAGE

^{ALWAYS attach a PICTURE (.jpg, .png, .gif) or VIDEO (.mp4, YouTube link) that highlights the problem.}

GAME FILES (SAVE / RECORDING)

^{Attach a SAVE GAME (.aoe2spgame) or GAME RECORDING (.aoe2record) of the match where you encountered the issue. Link it below if using an external file service.}

[GMEvangelos]

Hello everyone! The team is investigating this issue following Update 44725. Since it is affecting some players and not others, the most helpful thing you can do is reach out to our support team so they can work with you one-on-one:

https://support.ageofempires.com/hc/requests/new

Please do your best to provide the following details to them:

• A detailed description of what happens leading up to the issue.
• Whether you have worked through the following steps: https://support.ageofempires.com/hc/articles/360047396372
• A screenshot of the error message or crash prompt.
• A copy of your dxdiag.txt file.
• Any crash logs generated as a result of the crash.

In the meantime, the team is looking at the information they have to determine whether there is a common cause amongst everyone: be it antivirus disruptions, game file issues, or hardware/driver issues that interfering with the launch of the game.

Will update the thread if/when I learn more!