[Update 177723] Game silently fails to launch (instant close, no error) — regression, ran fine days before patch

Age of Empires II: DE II - Report a Bug
1

:play_button: GAME INFORMATION

  • GAME BUILD #: 177723 (June 2, 2026 update — cannot open the game to read the exact string, see below)
  • GAME PLATFORM: Steam
  • OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 10

:play_button: ISSUE EXPERIENCED

After Update 177723 (June 2, 2026) the game no longer launches. When I press Play in
Steam, AoE2DE_s.exe starts and exits within ~1 second: no window, no splash screen, no
error dialog. This is a REGRESSION — the game ran perfectly (a 4-hour session) on this
exact PC on May 25, 2026, and broke the moment I installed 177723. I am one of 300+
users reporting the same in the Steam megathread.

Diagnostic details:

  • The profile log folder is created but stays at 0 bytes.
  • No Application Error (Event ID 1000) in Windows Event Viewer.
  • I enabled WER LocalDumps via registry: NO dump is generated for the launch failure.
  • Running AoE2DE_s.exe directly (steam_appid.txt present) exits with code 100 (0x64).
  • BugSplat appears to intercept the failure (clean exit, no WER dump), so no local crash
    report is produced for the launch itself.

Proof the game worked on this exact hardware/OS before the patch — a pre-patch crash dump
from an in-game session (a separate, heap-related crash) shows the game launched and ran
for ~4 hours:

  • File: %LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps\AoE2DE_s.exe.1804.dmp
  • Date: 2026-05-25 17:54 | Process uptime at crash: 3h 51m 57s
  • Game version (from dump): 101.103.44206.0
  • Exception: 0xc0000374 (heap corruption), module ucrtbase!_free_base
  • Bucket: HEAP_CORRUPTION_ACTIONABLE_MultipleEntriesCorruption_c0000374_ucrtbase.dll!_free_base
    (I include this only as evidence the install/hardware launches and runs the game; the
    LAUNCH failure began only after 177723 and produces no dump at all.)

SYSTEM:

  • CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K @ 3.40GHz
  • GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 970 (clean driver reinstall via DDU, latest available)
  • RAM: 8 GB
  • OS: Windows 10 Pro 22H2, build 19045 (fully updated, ESU enrolled)

Already tried (please don’t re-suggest): file integrity verify; clean NVIDIA driver
(DDU + clean install); forced dedicated GPU / High Performance for the exe; disabled
Intel HD 4600 iGPU in Device Manager; latest VC++ 2015–2022 x64 + x86 (fresh) and repair;
run as administrator; Windows fully updated; reinstalled Gaming Services + Xbox Identity
Provider; re-enabled Xbox Game Bar; removed all mods (online + local); disabled all
overlays (Steam, NVIDIA App); no RTSS/Afterburner installed; KB5089573 not installed;
Defender real-time + controlled folder access off; clean boot (all non-MS services +
startup disabled) still fails; no third-party anti-cheat drivers (clean Windows ~3 weeks
old); renamed user profile folder to force clean rewrite.

:play_button: FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

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

:play_button: REPRODUCTION STEPS

Here’s the steps to reproduce the issue:

  1. On Steam, have AoE2DE updated to build 177723.
  2. Press Play (or run AoE2DE_s.exe directly from the install folder).
  3. The process starts and exits within ~1 second — no window, no menu, no error dialog.

:play_button: EXPECTED RESULT

The game should launch to the main menu as it did before Update 177723 (it worked fine
on this same PC on May 25, 2026).

:play_button: IMAGE

[attach image — see note below]

:play_button: GAME FILES (SAVE / RECORDING)

N/A — the game never launches, so there is no save or recording. I can provide the .dmp
file above and a DxDiag on request.

dump
dump2560×1440 395 KB

2

Actualice al hotfix del 8 de junio, y sigue sin funcionar!!! Tanto cuesta hace run rollback a la ultima version estable (y si, que se pierda el desbalance por ahora y todo lo nuevo), hasta que salga un fix definitivo y con un control de calidad bueno, bien testeado, para que todos los jugadores que pagaron puedan seguir jugando!!! Piensen en su comunidad!

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[SOLVED] Instant Silent Crash at Launch / Error 0x64 (June 2026 Update)

Hi everyone,

If you are experiencing an instant crash at launch (the game closes in the “millisecond zero” right after clicking Play) since the recent June 2026 updates, here is the definitive fix.

This issue is highly elusive because it doesn’t leave any error codes in the Windows Event Viewer, making it look like a hardware or driver failure when it’s actually a security policy conflict.

:magnifying_glass_tilted_left: Symptoms

  • The game closes immediately after clicking “Play” on Steam or the Xbox App.

  • The game creates a timestamped folder inside C:\Users\YOUR_USER\Games\Age of Empires 2 DE\Logs, but the log files inside remain completely empty (0 bytes).

  • If you try the Microsoft Store/Xbox App version, it explicitly throws Error Code: (0x64).

:light_bulb: The Cause

The recent update updated the game’s App Integrity / Anti-cheat protection framework. If your Windows has “Test Mode” (Testsigning) enabled or has Integrity Checks disabled (very common if you are a software developer, use virtualization, or have installed custom unsigned drivers), the new security system will instantly kill the game process before it even initializes the graphics engine.

:hammer_and_wrench: How to Fix It (Step-by-Step)

To fix this, you need to restore Windows default integrity checks and turn off Test Mode via the command prompt:

  1. Press the Windows Key, type cmd.

  2. Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.

  3. Copy and paste the following command, then press Enter:

    DOS

    bcdedit.exe -set loadoptions ENABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS


4. Next, copy and paste this second command, then press **Enter**:
   ```cmd
   bcdedit.exe -set TESTSIGNING OFF
  1. Restart your PC completely so Windows applies these security changes during boot.

Once your system reboots, the game (both on Steam and Xbox App) will finally pass the integrity check and launch perfectly. Hope this saves you the hours of troubleshooting it took us to find it!

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Hello,

Unfortunately, I would like to inform you that after trying the troubleshooting steps you provided, the issue with the Steam version of the game failing to launch has still not been resolved.

After launching the game, the process memory usage remains stuck at around 100 MB (sometimes dropping to approximately 93 MB). The following symptoms are still present:

  • No game logo appears.
  • No error message is displayed.
  • The game process runs for about five seconds and then closes automatically.

Therefore, the problem remains unresolved despite attempting the suggested solutions.

Thank you for your assistance, and I hope there may be additional troubleshooting steps or a fix available.

Best regards.