Fix Age of Empires Definitive Edition not launching

Microsoft has launched a remastered and remade version of the original Age of Empires as Age of Empires: Definitive Edition in the Microsoft Store. However, it seems that now many users have been hit by many unusual bugs which don’t allow them to launch or play the game.

Age of Empires Definitive Edition not launching

Some of the common errors include:

• The game doesn’t start or is stuck at load, and never goes beyond the load screen.
• The game keeps crashing and re-opens the store for some update which never happens.
• Sometimes it shows the logo, and the game quits.
• Graphics are lagging.

In this post, I am sharing some tips which you can use to fix these errors, but there is no guarantee as it depends on PC to PC. It might work for some, and might not for others.

1] Check Minimum PC Requirements

Unless you have a very old PC, most of the new generation PCs should be able to run this game. Microsoft has shared the minimum PC requirement of the game as below:

2] Install any free app from the Microsoft Store

A bit of a surprising tip, but this comes straight from the AOE team. Users who face issues with the error code “0x803F8001” might need to download any free app or game from the store. It can be a game like Candy Crush or Fitbit App, but it seems to be solving the problem.

Though they are asking you to sign out all other accounts you might have on your PC until it works. Once done, you can navigate to Microsoft Store “Library” page and launch Age of Empires: Definitive Edition.

3] Did you Pre-order? Time to Reinstall

The game was up for pre-order, and many bought it. It downloaded the game at that time, to only start today when the launch was official. It seems that those games need to be reinstalled. That’s another 17.8 GB of your bandwidth limit, but that seems to be the only solution for now.

• Press the Windows Key to open Start Screen.
• Look for Age of Empires under “A” list.
• Right-click, and uninstall.

• After the uninstall is complete, go to “My Library” in Windows Store.
• Search for the game, and install it again.

You can check out the next tip on resetting the game before uninstalling it.

4] Reset Age of Empires DE game data

This is better than reinstalling the whole game, and might just work for you. The feature to reset the app is available in Windows Windows 10 versions 1607 or later.

• Type “Apps & Features” into the Search Bar and select it.
• Locate and select Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, then select Advanced Options.
• Click Reset.

5] Are you on Windows Insider Version?

Many have reported to the AOE Support team that they ran into issues when launching the game if they are on a pre-release/Insider version of Windows. This issue is being investigated as you are reading this. So stay for an update about this.

6] Check your antivirus settings

Back to basics. Anti-Virus does cause problems launching any app or game if they accidentally identify something wrong about the game. Follow the steps below:

• Some antivirus programs may prevent the game from launching.  Be sure to check your antivirus settings to make sure Age of Empires: Definitive Edition is not being blocked.
• Add the game to any whitelist feature in your antivirus program.

Age of Empire Support team particularly points out to antivirus programs Comodo and F-secure to have known conflicts with Age of Empires DE. For Comodo, try disabling shellcode injection detection or Buffer overflow protection. Similar shellcode blockers in other programs may cause issues as well.

7] Run the Windows Store App Troubleshooter

Windows 1has an in-built troubleshooter. Type Troubleshoot in earch box, and you should see the settings right away.

• Open Windows Store Apps from the list.
• Run it.
• It will check in general if there is an issue, and try to repair it.

8] Crash! Hang! Crash! Reopen Store & Update

This is a typical error for which you need to Gather your DxDiag and Store Logs. This process will capture system information and installation logs. You will have to send this to the AOE support team to fix.

• Getting DxDiag:

  1. In your Cortana search bar, type dxdiag and click on “DxDiag Run command“.
  2. Select “Save All Information” and save the dxdiag file to your desktop.

• Getting Store Logs:

  1. In your Cortana search bar, type wscollect  and click on “wscollect Run command.” This will generate a .cab file on your desktop.

• Send Microsoft your information. Gather the following information and send it to them:

  • Gather as much of the following information as possible into an email:
    • A description of your issue. Please be as detailed as possible.
    • A screenshot of your issue, if you were able to gather one.
    • Your DxDiag file.
    • Your .cab file.
    • The name of antivirus software on your PC, if any.
    • The name of VPN software on your PC, if any.
    • The name of firewall software on your PC, if any.
  • Once you have as much of the above information as possible, send it to [email protected]. They will get back to you with further steps as soon as possible.

It is possible that none of them fix your issue, and the only option is to wait for an update from the AOE Support team to get this fixed. I am sure they are already working on it.

PS: Rune Goksør says in the comments section below: ‘Adding English US language pack to Windows did the trick for me’.