# I launched Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition on Steam today, and the intro screen and Microsoft Account pop-up window appeared briefly, but then the intro screen closed on its own **URL:** \ **Category:** II - Report a Bug\ **Created:** [October 4, 2026, 11:47am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/i-launched-age-of-empires-2-definitive-edition-on-steam-today-and-the-intro-screen-and-microsoft-account-pop-up-window-appeared-briefly-but-then-the-intro-screen-closed-on-its-own/290242 "2026-10-04T11:47:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KuseBlack83](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/kuseblack83/32/29406_2.png) [@KuseBlack83](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/KuseBlack83)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2026, 11:47am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/i-launched-age-of-empires-2-definitive-edition-on-steam-today-and-the-intro-screen-and-microsoft-account-pop-up-window-appeared-briefly-but-then-the-intro-screen-closed-on-its-own/290242/1 "2026-10-04T11:47:10Z")
### ▶ GAME INFORMATION 👇 _These details are CRITICAL; DO NOT skip them or your issue may not be reviewed._ - **GAME BUILD** #:25464371 - **GAME PLATFORM:** Steam - **OPERATING SYSTEM:** Windows 11 ### ▶ ISSUE EXPERIENCED 👇 _DESCRIBE THE ISSUE IN DETAIL (below). LIMIT TO ONE_ BUG PER THREAD. ### ▶ FREQUENCY OF ISSUE 👇 _How often does the issue occur? CHOSE ONE; DELETE THE REST!_ - Less than **25%** of the time / matches I play (RARELY) - **25%** of the time / matches I play (SOMETIMES) - **50%** of the time / matches I play (FREQUENTLY) - **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. 2. 3. ### ▶ EXPECTED RESULT 👇 _What was SUPPOSED to happen if the bug you encountered were not present?_ ### ▶ 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._ - ---
**Author:** ![KuseBlack83](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/kuseblack83/32/29406_2.png) [@KuseBlack83](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/KuseBlack83)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2026, 4:16pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/i-launched-age-of-empires-2-definitive-edition-on-steam-today-and-the-intro-screen-and-microsoft-account-pop-up-window-appeared-briefly-but-then-the-intro-screen-closed-on-its-own/290242/2 "2026-10-04T16:16:21Z")
The game wouldn’t launch via Steam because MSI Afterburner was running I don’t know why having MSI Afterburner running in the background prevents AoM: Retold and AoE II DE from launching, but when I close MSI Afterburner, both games launch normally again for me. Maybe other games are also affected while MSI Afterburner is running in the background. ---
**Author:** ![KuseBlack83](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/kuseblack83/32/29406_2.png) [@KuseBlack83](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/KuseBlack83)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 1:46pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/i-launched-age-of-empires-2-definitive-edition-on-steam-today-and-the-intro-screen-and-microsoft-account-pop-up-window-appeared-briefly-but-then-the-intro-screen-closed-on-its-own/290242/3 "2026-10-07T13:46:12Z")
This solution also works if you want to continue using MSI Afterburner: > **[Fix AoE2 crash to desktop if you use MSI Afterburner (This worked for me) ::...](https://steamcommunity.com/app/813780/discussions/0/585061197374739645/)** > > 1. Open RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS). 2. Click Add at the bottom. 3. Browse to your Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition installation folder. 4. Select: AoE2DE\_s.exe Default Steam path: C:\\Program Files...