Fix: Horizon Zero Dawn Won't Launch or Not Loading on PC

Horizon Zero Dawn is a popular action role-playing video game developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2017. It’s available for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 platforms. Meanwhile, some affected players report that the Horizon Zero Dawn game is not launching or crashing on startup. If you’re also experiencing a similar kind of issue, then check this troubleshooting guide to fix it.

We can’t deny that most of the Windows PC version games come with plenty of bugs or errors that players can get while launching or during the gameplay. At the same time, several online multiplayer games suffer from server-related issues as well. Even though developers come up with a couple of patch fixes, these issues can be found on multiple instances, and you can’t help with them. The only thing you can do is troubleshoot the issue by performing some of the common steps.

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Why Does Horizon Zero Dawn Not Launching?
- Minimum System Requirements:
- Recommended System Requirements:
Steps to Fix Horizon Zero Dawn Not Responding or Loading on PC

Why Does Horizon Zero Dawn Not Launching?

Here we’ve provided some possible reasons behind the crashing of the Horizon Zero Dawn game on your Windows PC/Laptop.

Maybe your PC configuration isn’t capable of meeting game requirements. Have any doubts? Check below for system requirements.
Either your game files are missing or corrupted.
Your Windows OS or graphics driver version isn’t updated.
Maybe the DirectX version isn’t updated.
The game version or the client version is outdated.
Maybe the background running services are causing issues.
Most probably, Windows Firewall or Antivirus program is preventing the game from running properly.

Minimum System Requirements:

Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10 64-bits
Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K@3.3GHz or AMD FX 6300@3.5GHz
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 (3GB) or AMD Radeon R9 290 (4GB)
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 100 GB available space

Recommended System Requirements:

Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10 64-bits
Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K@3.5GHz or Ryzen 5 1500X@3.5GHz
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB) or AMD Radeon RX 580 (8GB)
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 100 GB available space

Steps to Fix Horizon Zero Dawn Not Responding or Loading on PC

Luckily, some possible workarounds are mentioned below to fix the easily won’t launch or not loading issue. So, without wasting any more time, let’s jump into it.

1. Run the Launcher as an Administrator

First, you should try running the game launcher as an administrator on Windows to allow the launcher program and the game files to run properly. Not running the game or client as an administrator, you may find it pretty difficult to avoid crashes or not launching issues that require UAC (User Account Control) access. Ensure to follow the steps below to do so:

2. Update Graphics Drivers

Make sure to update your graphics driver on the PC because an outdated GPU driver may trigger multiple issues with the game launching. You should try checking the graphics driver update and installing it (if available). To do that:

Right-click on the Start Menu to open up the Quick Access Menu.
Click on Device Manager from the list to open the interface.
Now, you’ll need to double-click on Display adapters to expand it.

Device Manager Update Display Adapter

Then right-click on the dedicated graphics card that’s active.
Next, click on Update driver > Choose Search automatically for drivers.
The system will automatically check for the available update.
An update will automatically download and install the latest version if available.
Once done, make sure to restart your PC to apply the changes.

If you can’t find any update, you can go to the official graphics card website and manually search for the update. If in case, a new version is available, just download the file on your PC and install it. You can find out the official manufacturer’s website link below.

3. End Background Processes

Make sure to end the background process on your system because unnecessary tasks can easily trouble the resource-hungry applications to run properly. If in case, your system becomes laggy or slow, the system resources are getting low at that moment. To remove unwanted processes:

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc shortcut keys on the keyboard to open Task Manager.

End Task Manager

Click on the Processes tab > Make sure to select the task you want to close individually.
Then click on End Task to close it.
As mentioned, do the same steps for each task that you want to close.
Once done, close the Task Manager window, and restart your PC.

4. Disable Steam Overlay

Multiple affected players have started reporting that Steam overlay is running in the background which is troubling a lot. In-Game overlay apps may consume higher system resources which can easily trigger issues with the game launching.

Open the Steam client > Go to Library.
Now, right-click on UNCHARTED Legacy of Thieves > Select Properties.
Head over to the General section > Here just uncheck the Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game checkbox.
Go back to Library > Launch UNCHARTED Legacy of Thieves to check if the game is still not launching.

5. Disable Steam Input

A couple of players did find this trick useful to simply disable the Steam Input option by following the steps below. It somehow fixes the game not launching or stuck at the loading screen issue. To do that:

Launch the Steam client > Go to Library.
Right-click on UNCHARTED Legacy of Thieves > Click on Controller.
Set ‘OVERRIDE FOR UNCHARTED Legacy of Thieves’ to ‘Disable Steam Input’.
Finally, you should try launching the game again to check for the issue.

6. Run the game in Windowed Mode

If in case, the game seems to crash a lot then you can try setting up the Display Mode to Windowed from Full Screen. To do that:

Click on the Windows icon to open the Start Menu > Type %LOCALAPPDATA% on the search bar and open it.
Go to the %LOCALAPPDATA% folder > Search for the ‘Prospect’ folder.
Open the mentioned folder and go to the Saved > Config > WindowsNoEditor directory.
Under the WindowsNoEditor folder, you’ll find a file called ‘GameUserSettings’.
Open the user settings file using any text editor > Set ‘FullscreenMode=1’ to ‘FullscreenMode=0’ to save changes.
Finally, try launching the game again to check for the issue.

7. Disable DirectX 12

If you use DirectX 12 on the PC, you can try turning it off. As the DirectX 12 version is the latest one available for Windows, it may be possible that your PC configuration isn’t capable of running it. To turn it off:

Just head over to Settings > Video > Set ‘Enable DX12’ to ‘Off’.
Restart UNCHARTED Legacy of Thieves game after applying changes.

8. Set Correct Rendering Device

Make sure to select the correct rendering device from the game settings menu that you can find below. To do so:

Open the Steam client and then launch UNCHARTED Legacy of Thieves game > Go to the Video Settings menu from the game.
Go to ‘Selected Rendering Device’ > Select your dedicated GPU. [Do not leave it to ‘Default’]
Once done, reboot the game to save changes.

9. Disable Multi-Threaded Rendering

It seems that the in-game video settings menu in UNCHARTED Legacy of Thieves title has a multi-threaded rendering option enabled, somehow conflicting with the game crashing quite often. Make sure to disable the multi-threaded rendering option from the game menu to try resolving the issue. If using an AMD processor, turn it off and reboot the game to apply changes.

10. Turn Off Antivirus Protection

You should try turning off the Windows Defender protection on your PC to ensure no antivirus software is blocking the game files from running properly. To turn it off:

Press Windows + I shortcut keys to open the Windows Settings menu.
Click on Update & Security > Click on Windows Security from the left pane.
Now, click on the Open Windows Security button.
Go to Virus & threat protection > Click on Manage settings.
Next, you’ll need to turn off the Real-time protection toggle simply.
If prompted, click on Yes to proceed further.

If you’re using any other antivirus program on your PC, then turn it off. However, if you’re not interested in disabling the antivirus software on the PC, you can just whitelist the game files to the antivirus software. To do that:

Open the Steam client > Go to Library.
Click on UNCHARTED Legacy of Thieves from the list of installed games.
Now, click on the Settings icon next to UNCHARTED Legacy of Thieves game page.
Click on Manage > Go to Browse local files.
Next, open the Prospect folder > Binaries > Win64.
You’ll find out a file ‘Prospect-Win64-Shipping’ under the Win64 folder.
Make sure to click to select the file and then add it to the list.
You’re good to go.

11. Repair Game Files

A corrupted or missing games files on the PC can eventually trigger multiple issues with the game launching or performance whatsoever. To do so:

For Steam:

Launch the Steam client > Click on Library.
Right-click on UNCHARTED Legacy of Thieves from the list of installed games.
Now, click on Properties > Go to Local Files.

Click on Verify Integrity of Game Files.
You’ll have to wait for the process until it gets completed.
Once done, just restart your computer.

For Epic Games Launcher:

Open the Epic Games Launcher > Click on Library.
Click on the three-dots icon of UNCHARTED Legacy of Thieves.
Click on Verify, and it’ll start verifying the game files.
Wait for the process to complete and restart the launcher.
It should fix UNCHARTED Legacy of Thieves Crashing issue on your PC.

12. Update UNCHARTED Legacy of Thieves

If none of the methods worked for you, check for UNCHARTED Legacy of Thieves game update because an outdated game version can have bugs or stability issues. So, if you haven’t updated your game for a while, then follow the steps below to check for updates and install the latest update.