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Generally speaking, if you notice Empire: Total War not launching, it’s possible that the obsolescence of the display driver is the root of the problem. To be able to play Empire: Total War to your heart’s content, you must update the display driver. Other solutions include turning off antivirus software and firewalls, disable mods, deleting data, verifying integrity of game files, etc. Spare a bit of your time to check out this article and learn what must be done.
Possibilities
Outdated Display Driver
All in all, the display driver only works as expected if you keep it up-to-date. If you neglect updates for the display driver, many processes on your computer would run into issues and the launching of games is not an exception. Hence, once it comes Empire: Total War not launching, you need to take display driver into account. On the bright side, if the display driver is the trigger, you don’t have to do much.
Interference From Antivirus Software And Firewall
While antivirus software and firewalls mean well, it’s not uncommon for them to overreact and complicate the operation of computers. In the case that you have a hard time getting Empire: Total War to launch, you should give antivirus software and firewalls some thought.
Mods
In layman’s terms, mods allow people to personalize the gaming experience but they could cause trouble on occasions too. You play Empire: Total War alongside a couple of mods? Then it’s widely advised that you add mods to the list of suspects when the game won’t launch.
Corruption
If corruption exists in the game files and data of Empire: Total War, there is no way it would work as expected. Unless you take action, you should have difficulty enjoying the game to the fullest.
What You Could Do
Update Driver
- Step 1: Press Windows key, type devmgmt.msc and hit Enter.
- Step 2: In Device Manager, expand Display adapters, right-click your graphics card and pick Update driver.
- Step 3: Hit Search automatically for updated driver software.
- Step 4: Restart your computer the moment the update completes.
- Step 5: When the screen comes back on, launch Empire: Total War and see how things turn out.
Alternately,
- Step 1: Launch your web browser, visit the official website of the manufacturer of your graphics card and download the latest driver for it.
- Step 2: Right-click the downloaded driver setup, pick Run as administrator and follow on-screen instructions.
- Step 3: Restart your computer.
Turn Off Antivirus Software And Firewalls
- Step 1: Press Windows + I to open Settings, click Update & Security then pick Virus & threat protection in Windows Security.
- Step 2: Under Virus & threat protection settings, hit Manage Settings and toggle off the Real-time protection switch.
- Step 3: Press Windows key, type Control Panel and hit Enter.
- Step 4: Change View by to Category.
- Step 5: Select System and Security, choose Windows Defender Firewall then hit Turn Windows Firewall on or off. Afterward, check the Turn off Windows Firewall (not recommended) checkbox in Private network settings as well as Public network settings. Last but not least, hit OK, launch Empire: Total War and witness the result.
Disable Mods
In the beginning, disables all mods of Empire: Total War, launch the game and determine whether the issue persists. If the game launches smoothly, you could conclude that a mod is responsible for everything. At that point, you may want to re-enable each of the mods, locate the troublemaker and get rid of it.
Delete Data
- Step 1: Press Windows key, type %appdata% and hit Enter.
- Step 2: Locate the Empire folder, enter it and delete everything inside.
- Step 3: Restart your computer.
Verify Integrity Of Game File
- Step 1: Open Steam, log into your account and go to Library.
- Step 2: Locate Empire: Total War, right-click it and pick Properties.
- Step 3: Select Local Files tab, choose Verify Integrity of Game Files and let the verification run from start to finish.

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s.
Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he’d stop emailing them asking for more work. Since 2019, he started providing game reviews & tips for Grateful Dead Game. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He’s also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.