The game will not install, update or start

Why will the game not install on my computer at all?

What usually causes it

An installer that refuses to run has usually been interrupted somewhere. A file downloaded over a connection that dropped briefly will still appear on disk at the correct name, and the fault only shows when the installer checks its own contents. Windows accounts set up as standard users cannot install programs at all, which is common on a family computer or a machine supplied by an employer. Security software quarantines unfamiliar installers as a matter of routine, sometimes without an obvious message. And an installer needs considerably more free space than the finished game occupies, because it unpacks before it writes.

On a Mac, a further cause is the security setting that blocks applications from outside the App Store or from an unidentified developer. The installer appears to do nothing at all, and the explanation sits in System Settings rather than in the game.

What to try first, at no cost

1. Download the installer again from the publisher's own website rather than resuming the interrupted copy.
2. Check the free space on the drive you are installing to. Treat roughly twice the stated install size as the practical minimum.
3. Sign in to an account with administrator rights, or ask whoever manages the computer to install it for you.
4. Open your security software's quarantine or protection history and see whether the installer is listed there. Restore it only if you downloaded it from the publisher.
5. On a Mac, open System Settings, then Privacy and Security, and look for a message about the blocked application near the bottom of that pane.
6. Restart the computer and run the installer once more before trying anything more involved.

When to ask for official help

If the installer still fails after that, the publisher's support channel is the right next step, because they can tell you whether the file is faulty or the fault is known. Send them the exact wording of any error, the point at which it stops and the steps you have already tried. If instead the installer came from a link in an email, a message or an advertisement rather than from the publisher's own site, stop and treat it as suspect; reports of that kind go to Scamwatch.

Where a paid option comes in

Nothing on this list is solved by buying software. Utilities sold as installation fixers generally do what the steps above do. The only purchase that ever becomes relevant is storage, and only when the drive genuinely has no room left.

What happens if I am running Linux?

What usually causes it

Desktop games are built against the libraries of a particular operating system. A publisher that lists Windows and Mac as the supported platforms has not built, tested or signed a Linux build, and its anti-cheat component in particular is often tied to the systems it was written for. That is a publishing decision rather than a fault on your machine.

Compatibility layers exist and people do use them. What they cannot offer is support: if the game stops launching after an update, the publisher is under no obligation to help, and the usual troubleshooting advice may not apply to your setup at all.

What to try first, at no cost

1. Read the system requirements on the publisher's own page and note exactly which operating systems are listed.
2. If Linux is absent, decide whether a dual-boot or a second machine running a supported system is realistic for you.
3. If you try a compatibility layer, keep a note of its version, because that is the first thing any community troubleshooting will ask for.
4. Do not pay for a tool that promises to make an unsupported game work. The promise cannot be kept by anyone other than the publisher.

When to ask for official help

Ask the publisher directly whether a Linux build is planned. Support staff answer that question routinely, and the answer is more reliable than a forum post from two years ago.

Where a paid option comes in

This is where the platform list matters when you are choosing what to play. World of Warships, the game whose affiliate programme funds this site, is published for Windows and Mac desktop computers; the programme terms state that Linux is not supported. If your only machine runs Linux, the link below is of no use to you, and that is the honest answer rather than a reason to click it.

Visit the World of Warships website

Paid affiliate link: if you sign up after following it, this site is paid a commission by the affiliate network that operates the link. Nothing changes for you.

The installer stops partway through. What should I try?

What usually causes it

Large game installs pull content in pieces, and a piece that arrives damaged stops the process where that piece belongs. That is why the progress bar so often stalls at the same place on every attempt. A connection that drops for a second, a security product scanning each file as it is written, or a drive running out of room partway through all produce the same symptom.

Sleep settings cause a quieter version of the same problem. A computer that suspends itself after twenty minutes will interrupt an install you left running while you made dinner.

What to try first, at no cost

1. Connect by cable if you can, or move closer to the router, and start the install again from the beginning.
2. Change the power settings so the computer does not sleep while the install runs.
3. Pause other downloads, cloud sync and streaming on the same connection for the duration.
4. Temporarily turn off real-time scanning only if your security software offers it, and turn it back on as soon as the install finishes.
5. If the launcher offers a repair, verify or check-files option, run it rather than deleting and starting over.
6. Install to a different drive if one is available, which also rules out a failing disk.

When to ask for official help

A repeated failure at the same percentage, or an install that works on one drive and not another, is worth raising with the publisher's support team. Mention the percentage; it often identifies the specific package involved. If the computer also freezes or restarts during the install, the question has moved beyond the game and a repair technician is the right call.

Where a paid option comes in

Download managers and optimiser programs do not improve this. A cable, a drive with space on it and the launcher's own repair function cover what can actually be done from your side.

Why does the game open and then close straight away?

What usually causes it

When a game starts it initialises the graphics system before it draws anything. If the driver refuses that request, there is nothing to show and the process ends. Overlay software that draws on top of games, including chat, recording and hardware monitoring tools, hooks into the same stage and is a frequent cause of an instant exit after an otherwise unremarkable update.

Damaged files produce the same result. So does a second copy of the game left behind by an earlier installation, and so does a saved configuration file describing a screen resolution your monitor cannot display.

What to try first, at no cost

1. Restart the computer first. This clears driver state that closing a window does not.
2. Update the graphics driver from the chip maker's own download page, choosing the driver for your exact model.
3. Run the launcher's file verification so damaged files are replaced without a full reinstall.
4. Turn off overlays from chat, recording and monitoring software, one at a time, and try launching between each.
5. Look for a windowed-mode or safe-mode launch option, which bypasses a stored resolution the screen cannot show.
6. Check whether your security software has quarantined part of the game since it last ran.

When to ask for official help

If a specific error code appears, search the publisher's own support site for that code before anything else, then open a ticket quoting it. Where the computer itself restarts or shows a stop error, the issue is wider than the game and worth taking to a technician.

Where a paid option comes in

Programs sold as crash fixers or registry cleaners are not the answer here, and a few make matters worse by removing files they do not understand. The free sequence above is the one support staff follow themselves.

How do I tell whether my computer is capable enough?

What usually causes it

Requirements are published per game and change over time as the game is updated, which is why a general answer is impossible. What is general is how to read them. The minimum describes the point below which the publisher does not expect the game to work. The recommended figure describes a sensible experience rather than the best one available, and the gap between the two is usually settings rather than hardware generation.

Memory and storage are the two people check least and the two most likely to be short. A game that expects a solid-state drive will load slowly on a mechanical one even when every other part exceeds the recommendation.

What to try first, at no cost

1. On Windows, open Settings, then System, then About, for the processor and memory; use Task Manager's Performance tab for the graphics card.
2. On a Mac, open the Apple menu and choose About This Mac.
3. Write down the processor model, the amount of memory, the graphics chip and the free space on the drive you would install to.
4. Open the publisher's requirements page for that specific game and compare line by line rather than by impression.
5. If you fall between minimum and recommended, plan to start at lower settings rather than assuming it will not run.

When to ask for official help

Publishers answer requirement questions through their support channels, and for a game with a demo or trial the most reliable test is running it. Retail staff are not a substitute for the published requirements.

Where a paid option comes in

Benchmark and diagnostic utilities are sold for this and are rarely necessary; the information above is already on your computer for nothing. If you do decide on an upgrade, memory and a solid-state drive usually change the experience more than the next graphics card for the money.

The update keeps failing or starting again. What causes that?

What usually causes it

An update replaces files in the install folder. If another process holds one of those files open, if the folder sits somewhere the account cannot write, or if a cloud sync tool is watching the folder and locking files as they change, the launcher cannot complete the replacement and starts the step again. The loop looks like a download problem and is usually a permissions one.

The second cause is simpler: patches arriving damaged. The launcher checks what it wrote, finds it wrong, and fetches it again, which is why the same percentage repeats.

What to try first, at no cost

1. Close the game fully, including any part of it still running in the system tray, then restart the launcher.
2. Exclude the game folder from cloud sync if it sits inside a synchronised location such as a documents folder that backs up automatically.
3. Run the launcher as an administrator once so it can replace protected files.
4. Check free disk space, since an update needs room for both the old and new files while it works.
5. Use the launcher's verify or repair option after a failed update rather than reinstalling.
6. If the loop persists, move the installation to a folder outside any protected or synchronised location.

When to ask for official help

Publishers track failing patches closely, and their service status pages often say so within hours. Check that page before opening a ticket, then report it with the patch version if nothing is listed.

Where a paid option comes in

No purchase addresses an update loop. Treat any tool advertised as a patch fixer with suspicion, particularly one that asks for the sign-in details of your game account.