It’s a nightmare scenario. You finally cleared your schedule, bought the DLC, and clicked that big green button on Steam only to realize Cities Skylines 2 won't launch no matter how many times you spam it. You see the "Running" status for three seconds, then it just quietly reverts back to "Play." No error message. No explanation. Just a desktop wallpaper staring back at you.
Honestly, it’s frustrating. Paradox Interactive and Colossal Order delivered a game that is notoriously heavy on hardware, but the launch issues often have nothing to do with your GPU's raw power. It’s usually a messy handshake between the Paradox Launcher, your Windows permissions, or a stray file that didn't download correctly.
We’ve seen this before. Thousands of players have reported the same thing since the October 2023 release, and while patches have helped, the "won't start" bug remains a persistent ghost in the machine.
The Paradox Launcher is Usually the Culprit
Let’s be real: nobody actually likes third-party launchers. Most of the time when Cities Skylines 2 won't launch, the blame lies squarely on the Paradox Launcher V2. This middleman software sits between Steam and the game itself, and it is incredibly prone to breaking during its own updates.
If the launcher is stuck in a loop, the game won't even try to initialize. A quick fix that actually works for most people is bypassing it entirely or nuking its local data. You can find the launcher's local files in your %LocalAppData% and %AppData% folders. Deleting the "Paradox Interactive" folders there forces the app to reinstall its bootstrapper. Sometimes, the launcher tries to update itself but gets blocked by a firewall, leaving you in a limbo where the "Play" button does absolutely nothing.
If you're tired of messing with the launcher, try running the game directly from the .exe file in the SteamLibrary folder. If it works there, you know the game is fine—it’s just the launcher being difficult.
Virtual Memory and the Infamous Pagefile
Cities Skylines 2 is a memory hog. It doesn't just eat RAM; it devours it. If you have 16GB of RAM, you might think you're safe, but this game often demands more "breathing room" than your physical sticks provide. When the game starts, it tries to allocate a massive chunk of memory. If Windows doesn't have a large enough Pagefile (virtual memory) set up on your SSD, the game will simply crash to desktop before the first logo even appears.
You need to check your Windows Advanced System Settings. Don't let Windows "automatically manage paging file size for all drives" if you're hitting launch issues. Set a manual size. Aim for at least 16GB to 32GB of space on your fastest NVMe or SSD. This gives the game a "safety net" to dump data into.
I’ve seen dozens of players fix their "won't launch" issue just by moving their Pagefile from a slow HDD to an SSD. It sounds technical, but it’s basically giving the game a bigger workbench to build your city on.
The Dependency Headache: DirectX and C++ Redistributables
Sometimes the reason Cities Skylines 2 won't launch is that your computer is missing a specific "language" the game speaks. Specifically, the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables. If these files are corrupted—which happens more often than you’d think during Windows updates—the game engine (Unity) will fail to initialize.
What to check right now:
- Go to your "Apps & Features" in Windows.
- Look for "Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable."
- If you see multiple versions, don't panic; that's normal.
- Click "Modify" and then "Repair" on the most recent x64 version.
It’s a boring fix. It’s not flashy. But it’s the backbone of how modern games run on Windows. If the game is looking for a specific DLL file and finds a corrupted version, it will just give up and close.
Paradox Mods and the "Broken Save" Loop
Are you using mods? If so, you’ve probably realized that the move to the in-game Paradox Mods platform hasn't been perfectly smooth. A single outdated mod can prevent the entire game from booting. Because the mods are synced to your account, the game tries to load them before you even get to the main menu.
If you suspect a mod is the killer, you can try launching the game with the --no-mods flag in the Steam Launch Options. This is a lifesaver. It tells the game to ignore all that extra code and just run the vanilla experience. If it boots up, you know you have a "mod hunt" ahead of you to find the culprit.
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Antivirus False Positives
Some aggressive antivirus software looks at the way Cities Skylines 2 handles data and thinks it's a threat. This is especially true for the Cities2.exe. If your antivirus "quarantines" the executable, Steam will tell you it's launching, but the file won't be there to actually run.
Check your protection history. If you see Cities Skylines 2 on the list, restore it and add the entire Steam folder as an exclusion. Windows Defender is usually okay, but third-party suites like Bitdefender or Avast can be a bit overzealous with new game patches.
Power Settings and Laptops
If you're on a laptop and Cities Skylines 2 won't launch, check your power cable. Seriously. If the laptop is in "Power Saver" mode or isn't plugged in, the integrated GPU might try to take over from the dedicated Nvidia or AMD chip. The game will often refuse to start if it detects the low-power integrated graphics because it knows it can't meet the minimum specs. Ensure your Windows Power Plan is set to "High Performance."
Administrative Privileges and Fullscreen Optimizations
Windows tries to be "helpful" by managing how apps interact with your screen. Sometimes, it manages it a little too much. Go to the game's installation folder, right-click Cities2.exe, and go to Properties.
Check the box for "Disable fullscreen optimizations."
While you're there, check "Run this program as an administrator."
This gives the game the "keys to the kingdom," allowing it to bypass certain Windows security layers that might be stopping the launch process. It’s a classic fix for games built on the Unity engine, which Cities Skylines 2 uses.
Clearing the Shader Cache
Corrupted shaders are a silent killer. When the game updates, it tries to compile new shaders for your specific graphics card. If the old cache is still sitting there, it can cause a conflict that crashes the game on startup.
You can manually clear these. For Nvidia users, it’s in the NVIDIA Corporation\NV_Cache folder. For AMD, it's within the Radeon Software settings. Cleaning this out forces the game to start fresh, which usually results in a longer "first boot" time, but it often gets you past the initial crash.
Summary of Actionable Steps
If you are stuck and the game still won't move, follow this specific order of operations to get back to city building:
- Verify Integrity: Right-click the game in Steam > Properties > Installed Files > Verify integrity of game files. This is the "have you tried turning it off and on again" of PC gaming.
- Bypass Launcher: Navigate to the game folder and run
Cities2.exeas an administrator. If it works, the Paradox Launcher is the problem. - Update Everything: This isn't just about GPU drivers. Update Windows and the "Gaming Services" app in the Microsoft Store.
- Check the Log: If it still won't work, look at the
Player.logfile inAppData\LocalLow\Colossal Order\Cities Skylines II. Scroll to the bottom. It will usually tell you exactly which file or memory address caused the failure. - Clean Install: If all else fails, uninstall the game, delete the remaining folders in
SteamAppsandAppData, and reinstall. This ensures no "ghost files" from previous versions are haunting your new installation.
Most launch issues are solved by the third step. These aren't just "suggestions"—they are the actual technical workarounds that have stabilized the game for the community over the last year. Focus on the Paradox Launcher and your Pagefile first, as those represent nearly 80% of the reported "won't launch" cases.