Poppy Playtime Not Launching/Crashing
The anticipation for Poppy Playtime’s Chapter 4 was long, but ultimately, it proved to be worthwhile. Released on January 30, 2025, feedback for Chapter 4 has been largely positive thus far, with some even deeming it the best installment to date. At the moment, a significant source of disappointment for many players is that the DLC is not launching at all.
However, similar to any other newly launched game, Poppy Playtime also encounters a few problems. Now, a significant source of frustration for numerous players is the issue with Poppy Playtime not launching we are going to discuss today.
Some players experienced crashes after just ten minutes of gameplay, while others faced immediate crashes at launch. Without any other ado, let’s explore all the potential solutions for the Poppy Playtime crashing/not launching issue.
How to Fix Poppy Playtime Stuck on Loading/Crashing
Approach 1. Restart Steam/PC
Background computer processes or software might interfere with the game, leading to Poppy Playtime crashes at startup or causing the game cannot launch. Additionally, temporary files created during gameplay could be responsible as well.
Thus, restarting either Steam or the computer can help eliminate these files and refresh the game resources.
Approach 2. Update/Reinstall Graphics Driver
When the Poppy Playtime not launching or crashing issue is associated with a corrupted or outdated graphics card driver, updating or reinstalling the driver may be the greatest choice.
>> Update the Graphics Driver:
Step 1. Right-click the Windows logo button on the taskbar and select Device Manager.
Step 2. Expand the Display adapters section by double-clicking on it.
Step 3. Right-click on your graphics card and select Update device.
Step 4. Select Search automatically for drivers and then follow the on-screen instructions to finish the rest process.

>> Reinstall the Graphics Driver
Step 1. Open Device Manager.
Step 2. Double-click on Display adapters to expand it.
Step 3. Right-click your video card and choose Uninstall device. When you are asked to confirm your action, select Uninstall to confirm.
Step 4. After that, you can reboot your computer and allow Windows to automatically install the correct driver. Alternatively, you can visit the official website of your graphics card maker and manually download the most recent driver. After that, you can proceed to install it on your device
Approach 3. Disable Overclocking
If you have overclocked your CPU, be sure to turn off the overclocking to fix Poppy Playtime not launching. Not sure how to do that? Check out this guide on How to Disable CPU Overclocking.
Approach 4. Run Poppy Playtime on Dedicated Graphics Card
When engaging in resource-intensive tasks like gaming or video editing, it’s recommended to utilize a dedicated graphics card for optimal performance. To accomplish this:
Step 1. Right-click on any empty area of your desktop and select Display settings from the menu that appears.
Step 2. In the Display section, choose Graphics Settings.
Step 3. Click on Browse, locate the PlaytimeLauncher.exe file of the game, and hit Add.
Step 4. Select Options > check High performance > then click Save.
Approach 5. Verify the Integrity of Game Files
Verifying the integrity of the game files is a built-in feature of Steam that can help fix game crashing issues due to corrupt, missing, or incompatible game files. To verify the game files for Poppy Playtime, follow the steps below:
Step 1. Launch Steam and navigate to the Library section. Locate Poppy Playtime, right-click on it, and select Properties.
Step 2. Click on the Installed Files tab and choose Verify integrity of game files. Steam will begin to check the game data, and this may take a few minutes.
Approach 6. Modify Game Launch Options
Last but not least, some players reported modifying game launch options can address the Poppy Playtime not launching issue. Here’s how to do it in a few simple steps:
Step 1. Open Steam and go to Library.
Step 2. Right-click on Poppy Playtime and select Properties.
Step 3. In the General tab, type -dx11 in the Launch Options and close the tab.

Step 4. Now, launch the game and check if it solves your issue or not. If not, then type “-dx12” or “-windowed” in Launch Options.
Other Possible Workarounds
There are some other feasible solutions to fix the Poppy Playtime not launching or crashing issue. You can them a shot.
- Increase virtual memory
- Reinstall Visual C++ redistributables
- Run Poppy Playtime as an administrator
- Allow Poppy Playtime through Firewall or Antivirus
- Close conflicting/unnecessary programs
- Update Windows
Bottom Line
Is Poppy Playtime not launching or crashing? You can resolve it by applying the solutions mentioned above. By the way, if you need to recover game files or other types of files on Windows, you can use MiniTool Power Data Recovery, secure and free file recovery software.
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