How To Fix Dead Island 2 Won’t Launch or Start Issue on Windows PC

Many PC players have trouble playing Dead Island 2 games because it’s unable to launch properly. Several players are facing problems with Dead Island 2 not launching or loading on Windows PCs, regardless of how powerful the PC is, it is very annoying especially when you desperately want to play the game after a long working hectic day but it is launching.

If you are also having the same issue then read this post and try the fixes mentioned below.

How To Fix Dead Island 2 Won’t Launch or Start on PC?

Below are a few potential workarounds for the issue where the game won’t launch or won’t load. Let’s get started right now, then, without more delay.

1. Run the Launcher as an Administrator

To ensure that the launcher application and the game files operate correctly, you should try running the game launcher on Windows as an administrator. Otherwise, it could be quite challenging to prevent crashes or problems with the client not starting that ask for UAC (User Account Control) access.

Go to the folder on your computer where the Epic Games Launcher is installed. It must be located by default in C:\Program Files (x86)\Epic Games\Launcher\Portal\Binaries\Win64.
Find the Epic Games Launcher executable file, which is called EpicGamesLauncher.exe, within the Win64 folder.
Click the context menu when you right-click the EpicGamesLauncher.exe file > Run as administrator.
If User Account Control (UAC) asks you, choose Yes to give the requested privileges.
From now, The Epic Games Launcher will launch with administrator privileges.

To set this as a permanent setting:

To access the context menu, right-click the EpicGamesLauncher.exe file> Properties> Compatibility tab.
Make sure “Run this program as an administrator” is checked in the Settings section.
To save your changes, press the Apply button twice.
When started through the EpicGamesLauncher.exe file, the Epic Games Launcher will now always execute as an administrator.
To make sure the game program has UAC access, you may perform the same actions using the executable file for Dead Island 2.

2. Update Graphics Drivers

Update your PC’s graphics driver as soon as possible since an out-of-date GPU driver might create a variety of problems when a game first launches. If there are any available, you should check for and install a graphics driver update. So make sure to update GPU drivers, for that follow these steps:

To get the Quick Get Menu, perform right-click on the Start Menu.
In the list, select Device Manager to launch the interface.
To expand Display adapters, double-click on it.
Next, perform a right-click on the active dedicated graphics card.
Next, select Search automatically for drivers under Update driver.
The computer will automatically check for any updates that are available.
If an update is available, the most recent version will be downloaded and installed automatically.
Then restart your PC.

Best Alternate To Update Graphics Driver

NVIDIA and AMD do release game-specific updates that you can download and install on your PC but it takes time.

Especially, if you are a newbie or you don’t have time or skills then there are chances that you might end up installing the wrong graphics drivers.

So we recommend downloading Driver Easy software on your PC. This program is a professional system driver updater that automatically scans a PC’s old driver and updates them instantly.

We have personally used this tool on our Windows 11 PC. The most favorite part is its outstanding scanning feature. You can instantly know which PC part needs to be updated.

The Driver Easy is an N0.1 software updater tool in its field with a mega database of more than 600000 drivers. Users have been using this tool for the last 12 years to fix their PC errors.

So download Driver Easy and let it deal with all the system drivers.

3. End Background Tasks

To fix Dead Island 2 won’t launch or lag issue make sure to close and unnecessary background processes that are using up your system’s resources.

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc shortcut keys to open Task Manager>Processes tab > select the task you want to end > End Task.
Follow the same steps to finish each task.
Restart your computer after closing the Task Manager window.

4. Run in Clean Boot

Launch Run.
To launch the System Configuration window, enter msconfig and press Enter.
Open the Services tab.
Check to Hide all Microsoft services, then select Disable all.
Click OK and then Apply.
Relaunch Windows.

5. Repair the Disk Problem

On the keyboard, press Win + E to launch File Explorer.
Visit this PC.
To access the properties, right-click the local disk drive where Dead Island 2 is installed.
Go to the Tools tab by navigating.
As seen in the screenshot, click Check.
Click the Scan Drive button.
Give the procedure some time to complete itself.

6. Run the game in Windowed Mode

You should try switching the Display Mode from Full Screen to Windowed if the game is not starting.

Open the Start Menu by clicking on the Windows symbol, then type %LOCALAPPDATA% into the search field to access it.
Navigate to the %LOCALAPPDATA% folder and look for the ‘Prospect‘ folder.
Open the aforementioned folder, and go to the Saved > Config > WindowsNoEditor directory.
‘GameUserSettings‘ is a file that may be found in the WindowsNoEditor folder.
Any text editor may be used to open the user settings file. To save changes, replace “FullscreenMode=1” with “FullscreenMode=0.”
To check for a problem, launch the game once again.

7. Disable DirectX 12

Try disabling DirectX 12 if you use it on your PC. It’s possible that your computer’s setup prevents it from operating.

Just go to Settings > Video > and change “Enable DX12” to “Off.”
After making adjustments, restart Dead Island 2.

8. Disable Multi-Threaded Rendering

Dead Island 2 appears to have a multi-threaded rendering option selected in the in-game video options menu, which is incompatible with the game often not launching. To try to fix the problem, be sure you deactivate the multi-threaded rendering option from the game menu. To implement modifications, restart the game if you’re using an AMD CPU.

9. Turn Off Antivirus Protection

You should try disabling Windows Defender on your computer to make sure that no antivirus program is preventing the game files from functioning correctly. To snooze it:

For quick access to the Windows Settings menu, press Windows + I.
Choose Update & Security. From the left pane, click Windows Security.
At this point, select the Open Windows Security option.
Click on Virus & threat protection. Navigate to Manage settings.
The Real-time protection toggle must then be turned off.
To continue, select Yes when prompted.

10. Repair Dead Island 2

Try this fix to resolve Dead Island 2 won’t launch the issue.

Run the Epic Games Launcher. Then select Library.
Locate the Dead Island 2
Go to Manage and click on the three horizontal dots icon of Dead Island 2.
Click on Verify, and it will start verifying the game files.
Restart the launcher after waiting for the procedure to finish.
Your PC’s Dead Island 2 crash problem should be resolved by this.

11. Update Dead Island 2

An older game version may have bugs or stability problems, therefore check for Dead Island 2 updates. Following the instructions below will enable you to check for updates and install the most recent update if your game hasn’t received one in a while.

Launch the Epic Games Launcher and go to the library.
After that, select Dead Island 2 by clicking on the three dots symbol.
Turn on the Auto Update setting, if necessary.

12. Reinstall the Game

If none of the methods worked for you, then try reinstalling the game. It will remove damaged files or bugs.

Go to the Libary after opening the Epic Games Launcher.
Under Dead Island 2, choose the three horizontal dots, and then select Uninstall.
Allow some time for the game to be removed.
After uninstalling the game, reinstall it.