[2020] PINNED: Having problems with the launcher? Try this!

If you're experiencing issues with your launcher when you try and run a game from Steam please try the following solutions:

• Make sure steam.exe and the cities.exe file are on the allowed list for both Windows Defender and your anti virus program
  
• Check your anti virus programs quarantine section as we've found that occasionally the bootstrapper file gets falsely flagged as a virus. If it's in your quarantined list please restore the file and try again.
  
• Make sure that both Steam and the game is installed on the same partition, preferably your C:

If none of the above first steps work please try the following:

1. Exit Steam and start it as Administrator (right click Steam.exe > Run as administrator)
   
2. Run the cities.exe file directly from the installation directory (this will circumvent the launcher all together)
   
3. Exit Steam and remove the Paradox Launcher from the Add/Remove programs menu (Windows) and then start the game again. This will trigger a fresh re-installation of the launcher and hopefully solve it.
   
4. If this still doesn't solve it this rather long and elaborate removal of the launcher should do the trick:

Step 1: Remove game-specific files created by the launcher
For each game that uses the launcher, you will need to delete the following files or folders, if they exist, from the game’s data directory (e.g., C:\Users\YOURUSER\AppData\Local\Colossal Order\Cities_Skylines):

.launcher-cache
content_load.json or dlc_load.json (depending on game)
game_data.json
newsfeed

Step 2: Uninstall the launcher and remove its settings files
On Windows:

1. Go to Add or Remove Programs and uninstall “Paradox Launcher v2”
   
2. Delete the following files or folders, if they still exist:
   C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Paradox Interactive\launcher-v2
   C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Paradox Interactive\launcherpath (should be gone)
   C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Paradox Interactive\launcher-v2 (should only contain logs)

On Mac:
Remove the following files and folders from ~/Library/Application Support/Paradox Interactive/:

• .cpatch (hidden by default)
  
• launcher-v2 (all of the folders and versions)
  
• bootstrapper-v2
  
• ThirdPartyLicenses.txt

On Linux:
Remove the following files and folders:

• ~/.paradoxlauncher
  
• ~/.local/share/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2
  
• ~/.local/share/Paradox Interactive/launcherpath

Step 3: Launch the game
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If it didn't help If none of these steps have solved it please open a ticket[paradox.zendesk.com] with the following:

Windows:

- Close the game
- Attach ALL files Found here %LocalAppData%\Paradox Interactive\launcher-v2 - Attach ALL files Found here %AppData%\Paradox Interactive\launcher-v2
Mac:
- Close the game
- Attach ALL files Found here ~/Library/Application Support/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2
Linux:
- Close the game
- Attach ALL files Found here $XDG_DATA_HOME/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2 (if $XDG_DATA_HOME is set)
OR
~/.local/share/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2 (if it was not set)

If you could also provide a screenshot of the error that would be much appreciated.

Originally posted by Батя: what can i do for mac os?

For mac try deleting the Paradox Interactive folder found in ~/Library/Application Support/

To see it go to the Finder, hit command-shift-G (ie Go To) and paste in ~/Library/Application Support/

Originally posted by brasilin2006: the game won't boot up for me at all, i updated to the latest steam and now when I hit play, the play button changes for a bit, and then changes back to read "Play"

the game doesn't start. I've tried everything, different launch option commands, uninstalling, reinstalling, both steam and cities skylines.

Do you have the launcher files mentioned in this post? If yes, did you try deleting them? If none of that does anything or if you don't even have any of the launcher files, then I suggest posting in the support forums[forum.paradoxplaza.com] and including the files mentioned in this post[forum.paradoxplaza.com].

Originally posted by Giga: Launching game failed. Why? I've tried all solutions here

Originally posted by TNT Arvin: 没有作用，哪里做的不对？

If deleting the files didn't help, then I suggest posting in the support forums[forum.paradoxplaza.com] and including the files mentioned in this post[forum.paradoxplaza.com]. That will help the support staff see what's wrong and suggest any potential fixes you can try.

Yeah it doesn't work for everyone sadly, but it does help in some cases. Sucks for everyone still having issues no doubt. But let's stick to the topic here. There's several discussions already about the launcher, we don't need yet another one. ;)

Originally posted by MadeByFaker: diesen ordner gibts bei mir nicht finde nicht mal den ordner appdata

It's a hidden folder by default. You need to enable View Hidden in File Explorer to see it.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4028316/windows-view-hidden-files-and-folders-in-windows-10