The game crashes shortly after it launches or when trying to start a game.

There are several potential workarounds to this issue. Please work through the following steps to see if they fix the problem:

🛠 Check for pending Windows updates.

Verify that there are not any pending Windows updates. While you may be on an up-to-date version of the OS, there may be essential application updates waiting to install. Be sure to restart your device after installing any updates.

🛠 Ensure that your computer meets the minimum requirements to play the game.

A majority of crashes upon launching the game can be attributed to playing on a PC that does not meet the recommended requirements. Ensure that your system meets the minimum system requirements to run the game. This includes checking your version of Windows 10/11. If you need to update your version of Windows 10/11, you can follow the instructions here.

🛠 Update your display drivers.

If you are playing on old or outdated display drivers, you may encounter issues when trying to launch and play any game. You can check what video card and drivers you are running using the DxDiag command. Once you know what hardware you’re using, you can download the appropriate drivers from the web:

• Nvidia Video Card Drivers: https://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp
• ATI Video Card Drivers: https://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx
• Intel Drivers: https://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/graphics
• Laptop video drivers are dependent on and obtained from your laptop’s manufacturer.

🛠 Check your antivirus settings.

Some antivirus programs may prevent the game from launching. Check your antivirus settings to make sure Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is not being blocked.

• Add the game to any allowlist feature in your antivirus program. (Note: some antivirus programs may remove the game from the allowlist when it is updated. Double check that the game is still on your allowlist!)

Here are a few particular antivirus programs with known conflicts, as well as resolution steps for each:

• Avast: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition must be added to the program’s allowlist. Steps can be found here.
• AVG: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition must be added to the program’s allowlist. Steps can be found here.
• Bitdefender: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition must be added to the program’s allowlist. Steps can be found here.
• Comodo: disable shellcode injection detection.
• F-secure: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition must be added to the program’s allowlist.
• Trend Micro: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition must be added to the program’s allowlist. Steps can be found here.

If the antivirus requires you to target the game files through “Browse…”, the default file path will be:

• Steam: Program Files (x86) > Steam > steamapps > common > AoE2DE > AoE2DE_s.exe
• Microsoft Store: Program Files > WindowsApps > Microsoft.MSPhoenix_101.101.######.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe > Game > AoE2DE.exe

🛠 Manually update Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables and restart your machine.

Make sure you have all the necessary files to run the game. You can find the latest visual studio files here:

• Download Visual Studio Tools - Install Free for Windows, Mac, Linux

🛠 MICROSOFT STORE: Update Microsoft Gaming Services

Check for updates to the Microsoft Gaming Services in the Downloads section of the Microsoft Store.

🛠 MICROSOFT STORE: Run the Microsoft Store App Troubleshooter.

You can run the Microsoft Store App Troubleshooter to identify and address many different issues with Windows. You can find it here.

🛠 STEAM: Verify the integrity of the game files.

Follow the steps to verify the integrity of your game files. Once this is done, re-launch the game and verify that the issue is fixed.

🛠 STEAM: Open the game directly instead of through the Steam client.

Doing so may change your error message, which can help you better-diagnose the root of the issue.

1. Right-click the game in your Steam library and click Properties.
2. Select Local Files.
3. Click the Browse Local Files button.
4. Double-click the AoE2DE_s.exe application to launch the game.
5. Record any error message you receive.

🛠 Disconnect additional monitors.

If you are able to launch the game after doing so, change the game to Windowed mode in the game settings and then reconnect the monitors.

🛠 Uninstall and reinstall Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.

If you were able to install the game successfully but still encounter crashes in the game, please reinstall the app using these instructions.

🛠 Move the app to a different drive.

For some users, crashes may be attributed to low disk space on the drive where the game is installed. Freeing up space on that drive or moving the game to a different drive will provide additional virtual memory to run the game.

To move your game to a different drive, follow these steps:

1. Press the Windows key and search for Apps & features.
2. Select Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.
3. Click the Move button.
4. Choose a new drive from the drop-down menu.
5. Click Move to automatically move the game to a new home.

If you continue to experience crashes after trying these troubleshooting steps, then please Submit a request to our Support team. Include as much detail as possible about when crash is happening, along with a DxDiag and crash logs. Steps to find those can be found in our article: How to find information for troubleshooting with Support