Lethal Company has quickly become one of the most popular co-operative multiplayer Steam games since its 2023 launch. However, some players have reported Lethal Company doesn’t start for them. One LC player’s Reddit post said this: “I bought the game a few days ago, and after showing the first two loading screens, it would go all black, and when I clicked on it, it would tell me ‘Lethal Company not responding’.” Many Lethal Company players also report black screen startup issues. Here are some ways you can fix Lethal Company not launching on a Windows PC.
Restart Your PC
Some players confirm they’ve been able to fix Lethal Company not launching simply by restarting their Windows PCs. This is the most straightforward of possible fixes to apply. So, try restarting your PC and starting Lethal Company after the restart before attempting any other possible resolutions.
This possible resolution could be more effective by setting a clean boot before restarting. Doing that will disable unnecessary third-party services and apps from starting with Windows 11/10. Check out this Microsoft guide to clean booting for details about how to apply this troubleshooting method.
The Services tab in MSConfig
Verify the Lethal Company Files
Many games fail to start when they have corrupted or missing files. Verifying Lethal Company could repair some corrupted/missing files causing the game to crash at startup. This Steam support webpage has instructions for how users can repair the game’s files with Valve’s gaming client.
The Verify game files option in Steam
Set Lethal Company to Run with DirectX 11
DirectX 12 can sometimes cause gaming issues to arise. So, configuring Lethal Company to start with the DirectX 11 set might fix that game not starting for some players. You can force Lethal Company to start with DirectX 11 by setting a launch parameter as follows.
- Start your Steam software.
- Click Library to view your Steam game collection.
- Right-click Lethal Company to select Properties.
- Enter -dx11 into the Launch Options box on the General tab.
The dx11 launch option in Steam
- Restart Steam and try starting Lethal Company.
Allow Lethal Company Through Windows Defender Firewall
Another possible way to fix Lethal Company not launching is to allow that game through Windows Defender Firewall, which some players confirm worked for them. The firewall will block Lethal Company’s outbound connections if that game isn’t allowed through it. So, go through the steps on this Microsoft page to add the Lethal Company.exe file to Windows Defender Firewall’s allowed list. Select the Private and Public boxes for Lethal Company on the allowed list after adding it.
If you utilize a third-party security app, that could have a firewall component. Check the firewall settings in it to see if Lethal Company is an allowed app. If not, add Lethal Company to the third-party firewall’s allowed list.
The Allowed apps list for Windows Defender Firewall
Turn Off Windows HDR Settings
HDR (High Dynamic Range) is a Windows setting that allows for a more vibrant and brighter picture. However, Lethal Company isn’t included on the list of games that officially support HDR. Some players say disabling HDR can fix Lethal Company not launching when it shows a black screen.
So, try disabling HDR if you have High Dynamic Range enabled on your PC. Turn off the Use HDR within Display capabilities in Settings. This help page on Microsoft’s site tells you how users can access the Use HDR setting.
The Use HDR option
Update Your PC’s Graphics Driver
If your PC’s graphics card driver hasn’t been updated for many months, install the latest driver available for it. You can do this by manually downloading drivers or with third-party driver updater tools. These are the steps for manually downloading and installing a graphics driver.
- Press the Windows logo + R key combo, input dxdiag, and click OK to view a DirectX Diagnostic Tool. Click on Display to view the details for your PC’s graphics card.
- Next, open an AMD, NVIDIA, or Intel page for downloading graphics drivers.
The NVIDIA driver download page
- Select your graphics card and Windows PC platform on the NVIDIA or AMD page and click Submit/Search. You’ll need to click a link for a compatible driver package for your Windows PC on the Intel site.
- Next, select Download to obtain the graphics driver file.
The Download option for a NVIDIA driver
- Go to whatever folder your web browser usually downloads files to by pressing the Windows logo + E key combination.
- Double-click the NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel driver package to open an installer for it and select to install from there.
Disable Intel Integrated Graphics Cards
Does your PC have a couple of graphics cards? If it does, try disabling your integrated Intel graphics card, which users confirm has fixed Lethal Company not launching on their PCs. This possible resolution is more widely confirmed for fixing the black screen launch issue. You can disable an integrated Intel graphics card like this.
- Press the Windows logo + X key combination and select Device Manager to access that tool.
- Double-click Display adapters to view your PC’s video cards.
- Right-click the integrated Intel graphics card to select a Disable device option.
The Disable device option
- Select Yes when prompted to confirm your chosen option.
The confirmation option for disabling device
However, some players confirm they’ve fixed Lethal Company’s black screen issues by disabling dedicated NVIDIA or AMD graphics cards. So, try applying this potential solution the other way around by re-enabling an Intel GPU and disabling an NVIDIA/AMD graphics card on your PC if the game still doesn’t start.
Other Possible Ways to Fix Lethal Company Not Launching on a Windows PC
There are other potential ways you can fix Lethal Company not launching beyond those covered above. Here are some more suggestions for kick-starting that game:
- Reinstall the Lethal Company game.
- Set Lethal Company to run as an administrator from its installation folder.
- Disable fullscreen optimizations for Lethal Company via the Compatibility tab for its EXE game file.
- Select to disable the Steam overlay feature.
- Update Visual C++ by downloading the Visual C++ Redistributable 2015-2022 package from this Microsoft page.
I hope a potential solution in this guide fixes Lethal Company not launching on your PC. The possible resolutions address more common causes for Lethal Company not starting, but nothing is guaranteed. However, remember that Lethal Company is still an early access release for which technical issues will more likely arise. Major future updates for the game will hopefully address some of the more widely reported bugs and technical issues.
