God of War is one of the best RPGs for Windows PCs. So, it’s unfortunate when that game fails to launch for whatever reason. When God of War fails to launch, it may or may not show an error message. Sometimes the game can simply crash at startup with a black screen. Players can’t play GoW because of many startup issues that prevent the game from launching. These are some ways you might be able to fix God of War not launching on a Windows 11/10 PC.
Set God of War and Your Gaming Client to Run as an Administrator
First, try setting God of War and your game client software (Steam or Epic) to run with administrative rights. This will ensure the game and its client software have full PC access permission. You can apply this potential fix for God of War not launching as follows:
- Press the Windows logo + E Explorer hotkey and open the God of War game installation folder.
- Right-click on the God of War.exe (application) file that runs the game to select Properties.
- Select the Run this program as an administrator box on the Compatibility tab.
- Click Apply > OK to save your new compatibility settings for God of War.
- Repeat those steps to set your Steam, GOG Galaxy, or Epic Game Launcher software to run with elevated permissions.
Select to Verify God of War
Running a verification scan for God of War will fix any missing or corrupted game files. Game startup issues often occur because of missing or corrupted game files. These support pages include instructions for how you can verify game file integrity with Steam, GOG Galaxy, and Epic Games:
Disable the Integrated Graphics Card on Your PC
Disabling integrated graphics cards is one of the most widely confirmed ways to fix God of War launching. This potential resolution is especially widely confirmed to fix a “not enough memory” God of War error. If your PC has two graphics cards, try disabling the integrated Intel GPU on it as follows.
- Press the Windows logo + X Power User menu hotkey and select Device Manager.
- Double-click Display adapters to view graphics cards.
- Right-click your PC’s integrated Intel graphics adapter and select Disable device.
- Click Yes to confirm.
Select the High-Performance Graphics Preference
Players have also said setting God of War to run with a high-performance dedicated GPU can kick-start GoW when it doesn’t start. This is how you can set a high-performance graphics preference for God of War.
- Press the Windows logo + S search box hotkey.
- Input a graphics setting keyword.
- Select the Graphics setting to access those options.
- Click Browse to select the GoW application file for launching the game in the God of War folder.
- Press Add in the Open window.
- Next, select God of War and click Options.
- Select the High-performance graphics preference setting.
- Click Save to apply the graphics preference setting.
- Try running God of War again. If it starts ok, set the Video Device graphics option in the game to your PC’s dedicated NVIDIA or AMD GPU.
Install Missing Visual C++ Runtime Libraries
God of War can sometimes fail to launch because required C++ runtime libraries are missing on players’ PCs. You can address this potential cause for God of War crashing at startup by installing C++ runtime libraries with the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2015-2022 package as follows.
- Open this Microsoft Visual Studio C++ page with the pre-installed Edge Windows web browser.
- Click on the Visual Studio 2015-2022 package download link for X64 (64-bit) architecture.
- Press Ctrl + J to view downloaded files in Edge.
- Click VC_redist.x64.exe to run that file.
- Select I agree > Install in the Microsoft Visual C++ window.
Disable Overlays
Overlays that enable users to select additional options from alternative software can sometimes cause God of War issues to arise. Steam, GeForce Experience, and Discord are three widely utilized gaming software packages with overlay features. So, try disabling overlays for any of those software packages if you have them enabled. These Steam, GeForce Experience, and Discord help pages include instructions for disabling their overlays:
- Disable Steam overlay
- Disable Discord overlay
- Disable the GeForce Experience overlay
Clean Boot Windows
Clean booting sets Windows to start with all unnecessary third-party programs and services disabled. Applying this troubleshooting method will free up system resources for God of War and might also disable a conflicting startup item that’s interfering with the game. Microsoft’s how-to perform a clean boot page includes instructions for how to apply this potential fix for God of War not starting.
Reinstall God of War
Reinstalling large games is never an ideal potential solution because of the amount of time it takes to download them and the potential to lose saved game progress. However, it is sometimes necessary to do that to fix games not starting, especially when other possible resolutions don’t work. This is how you can reinstall God of War with Steam and Epic Games Launcher.
Steam
- Run Steam and click Library.
- Right-click the God of War game to select the Manage and Uninstall options.
- Select God of War’s Install option within the Steam Library.
Epic Games Launcher
- Open the Epic Games window to select Library.
- Click the three-dot button for God of War and select Uninstall.
- To reinstall the game, click on God of War and select Install.
Other Ways to Fix God of War Not Launching
The potential resolutions above will probably resolve most God of War startup issues, but there are other things you can try if they’re not enough. These are other possible ways to fix God of War not launching.
- Install the latest driver for your PC’s graphics card by downloading it from the AMD or NVIDIA websites.
- Update Windows 11/10 by installing all available updates via the Settings app.
- Temporarily disable antivirus (security) software on your PC to see if that helps.
- Scan Windows system files with System File Checker by following the guidelines on this Microsoft support page.
Now you may be able to kick-start God of War on your Windows PC by applying the troubleshooting methods above. However, nothing is guaranteed because there are many possible causes for God of War not starting on a PC. Players who’ve found other ways to fix God of War not starting are most welcome to share their resolutions in the comments below.
