Fix Dying Light 2 Not Launching or Crashing on Steam
Source-checked · About 10 minutes
Answer
If Steam shows Running briefly and then returns to Play, remove outdated Dying Light 2 mods, clear the game's Steam Launch Options, and verify its installed files. If Windows names msvcr100.dll or msvcr110.dll, install the matching Microsoft Visual C++ package linked by Techland. A crash that remains after a clean launch should be reproduced once with Techland's logging options and sent with the new Dying Light 2 log files.
Open Steam > Library and select Play beside Dying Light 2. Use this guide when Steam shows Running briefly and then returns to Play, Windows displays a DLL error, or Dying Light 2 closes before or just after its title screen. If the game reaches a save and crashes only in one quest or location, note that quest and location for the final support step.
2
Remove outdated Dying Light 2 mods
Disable every Dying Light 2 mod through the mod manager or tool that installed it. In Steam, right-click Dying Light 2, open Properties > General, and leave Launch Options empty. Launch once from Steam before restoring any mod; Techland identifies mods made for an older game version as a cause of this exact failure.
3
Verify Dying Light 2 in Steam
Open Steam > Library, right-click Dying Light 2, and select Properties > Installed Files > Verify integrity of game files. Wait for Steam to finish and download any missing files, then select Play again. Do not download replacement DLL or game files from a fix site.
4
Repair only the DLL named by Windows
Skip this step when no DLL name appears. For an msvcr100.dll error, use Techland's Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 x64 download; for msvcr110.dll, use its Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 x64 download. Install the matching package, restart Windows, and launch Dying Light 2. Do not replace the individual DLL by copying one into the game folder.
Open Dying Light 2's Steam store page and compare its Windows version, processor, memory, graphics card, DirectX, and storage requirements with this PC. If the PC meets them, install the current driver from the graphics-card manufacturer and retry. Do not apply the old display-scaling, compatibility-mode, or NVIDIA Image Scaling changes from the retained 2022 video.
6
Confirm a clean launch twice
Start Dying Light 2 from Steam, wait for the title screen, and load the same character or start point that failed. Close the game normally and repeat the test. The repair is confirmed only when the same path reaches gameplay twice without Steam returning to Play or the game closing.
7
Create a useful Techland crash report
In Dying Light 2's Steam Properties > General, temporarily enter /verbose and /fulldump in Launch Options, reproduce the crash once, and then remove those options. In Properties > Updates, note the Build ID. Attach the newest files from %USERPROFILE%\Documents\dying light 2\out\logs and, when present, %USERPROFILE%\Documents\dying light 2\out\dumps to Techland Support with that Build ID and a DxDiag report.
If it does not work
If Steam verification reports missing files, let its download finish before selecting Play; verification is not complete while Dying Light 2 is still updating.
If msvcr100.dll or msvcr110.dll remains missing after installing the matching Microsoft package, include the exact Windows dialog in the Techland ticket instead of trying another DLL download site.
If the title screen works but only one character, quest, or map location crashes, preserve that save and tell Techland the character, quest, and last repeatable action; a full reinstall is unlikely to isolate a save-specific failure.
ⓘ Sources and verification
Checked against official documentation on . Scope: Windows PC.
Source-checked against current Techland, Steam, and Microsoft guidance. The launch failure was not reproduced on a test PC.
