Game crashes after start up when launched from Steam, works fine when launched from game folder

HazardousMetal · March 2017

As the title says, the game will freeze within a second after launching the game from Steam (Click play, ESO launcher pops up, click Play, crash) and an error report will come up. Running the game from within the game folder as an administrator however launches the game fine. The issue for me is that Steam doesn't register that I'm playing ESO with this method and doesn't track my time played, etc.

Me and a guild mate are both suffering from the same crash so I wonder if it is more widespread than I thought. My thoughts are that the launcher itself has an issue, as I am still able to directly launch the game with no problems if I bypass Steam/ESO launcher.

ZOS_PeterT · March 2017

If you're able to launch ESO by finding the .exe file in your installation folder, but not through the Steam library, it is the result of two things that you need to alter:

1. The .exe that Steam requires to be launched to be compatible with the Steam overlay is not actually eso.exe, but a file called "zosSteamStarter.exe". If your Steam library is "pointing" to the wrong .exe file, it won't launch from the library. The correct file "zosSteamStarter.exe" will usually be in the following directory:

Steam\Steamapps\Common\Zenimax Online

After locating "zosSteamStarter.exe", right click it to run it as an administrator. You may want to set it to permanently run as an administrator in your Compatibility tab. You can also create a shortcut to this .exe to use it more easily in the future; this is the .exe that must be run to access the Steam overlay and log your Steam play hours.

2. In order for "zosSteamStarter.exe" to log the information such as play hours properly, you may have to lower your Windows UAC (User Account Control) settings. Lowering User Account Control settings to the minimum will allow Steam to gather this data properly.

Let me know if this resolves your issues!

HazardousMetal · April 2017

I ended up just reinstalling and that did the trick but if I run into an issue like this again I will definitely try what you said and report my findings back here! Thanks for your response, Peter.

ZOS_PeterT · April 2017

No problem , let me know if you have this issue again in the future!