Launcher/CK3 problems

[Cubriek]

Hi, I've been having the same issue a lot of people seem to be having with PDX games and the Launcher.
I've done all the steps I could find on the forums/reddit/steam community. I've deleted all Paradox Launcher folders, uninstalled the launcher, I've fresh installed the game on my C drive and D drive. I've restarted my pc several times. The farthest I could get was the launcher finally popping up but just stuck on loading. I left it for an hour but nothing happened. I tried downloading the launcher separately but can't seem to get the directory to recognize the game.

At this point what am I supposed to do?

Edit: Tried it all again and now I'm getting "Initialization of the game failed. We're not sure...blah"

Thanks.

 

[AndrewT]

We don't see any significant errors in those logs.

Check that NONE of these files is set to run as the WIndows Admin user.

steam.exe
ck3.exe (in the Steam CK3/binaries folder)
dowser.exe (in the Steam CK3/launcher folder)
C:/users/{username}/AppData/Local/Programs/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2.2025.1/paradox launcher.exe
C:/users/{username}/AppData/Local/Programs/Paradox Interactive/bootstrapper-v2.exe


If that doesn't help, what happens if you run ck3.exe directly from File Explorer?

 

[Cubriek]

We don't see any significant errors in those logs.

Check that NONE of these files is set to run as the WIndows Admin user.

steam.exe
ck3.exe (in the Steam CK3/binaries folder)
dowser.exe (in the Steam CK3/launcher folder)
C:/users/{username}/AppData/Local/Programs/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2.2025.1/paradox launcher.exe
C:/users/{username}/AppData/Local/Programs/Paradox Interactive/bootstrapper-v2.exe


If that doesn't help, what happens if you run ck3.exe directly from File Explorer?

Not sure how/what you mean about checking if these files are set to run as Admin user. I've tried "run as admin" steam + CK3 but it just opens a black screen then crashes instantly.

I just did another "delete anything paradox related" off all my drives, restarted computer, downloaded CK3. It auto installed the launcher and now just hanging around the loading screen of the launcher for the last 5 min.

 

[AndrewT]

Not sure how/what you mean about checking if these files are set to run as Admin user.

Right click on each of them, properties, compatibility. If "run as Admin" is checked, remove that.

 

[Cubriek]

Right click on each of them, properties, compatibility. If "run as Admin" is checked, remove that.

Ok, none were checked off. Still getting "initialization of the game failed. We're not sure why this happened,...."
I installed Stellaris for fun also and same issue.

I guess at this point I'll refund the latest DLC and check back in a few months...

 

[AndrewT]

I guess at this point I'll refund the latest DLC

If you disable it in Steam, does that help the problem? I wouldn't think so ...

If you run ck3.exe and stellaris.exe from file explorer, do the games start up that way?