Warzone 2.0 won’t launch – After a lot of hype and anticipation, Call of Duty Warzone 2 is finally here, but it had issues like it won’t launch from the release date itself, but we have got some fixes ready for you.
Call of Duty Warzone 2 is an all-new free-to-play Battle Royale First-Person Shooter Game released on the 16th of November 2022.
It is available for all consoles, including Sony’s PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S and X, Xbox One and even on Windows.
It is a multiplayer-only game that Infinity Ward, Beenox, Treyarch, High Moon Studios, Sledgehammer Games, Activision Shanghai, Demonware, Toys for Bob, and Raven Software developed. This new COD Warzone 2.0 uses Infinity Ward’s latest IW 9.0 Game Engine.
Although the new Warzone 2 more or less borrows the same mechanics and gameplay as compared to its prequel, COD Warzone. But the Graphics and the Shooting feel way better now.
The game is a sequel to the already mentioned title Call of Duty Warzone, and it is also a part of Modern Warfare 2, but it doesn’t require you to purchase anything.
The game also features the Cross Platform feature, enabling players from different platforms to connect and play together, thus expanding the player base.
Warzone 2 modes and rules are pretty simple. Like other Battle Royale games, you must be the last man on a continuously shrinking map. You will first have to parachute down to the ground, where you will find other players.
Your primary aim is to eliminate everyone, and as the map shrinks, it will force other players to fight within that confined area.
A new feature that has been added in Warzone 2 is the Circle Collapse, where multiple circles appear on the map, but all converge into a single zone. Also, there will be 2v2 Gulag matches in Warzone 2.0, along with an AI player called the Jailer.
AI has been used extensively for the COD Warzone 2 game, and the AI-controlled players defend the strongest forts throughout the map. You can engage with the AI-controlled players to capture and gain access to the strongholds you can loot afterwards.
The game also features an all-new DMZ mode, where you can battle against the Real Players and the AI Controller Players when they attempt to exfiltrate with the collected loot. The game is set in a desert theme known as the Al Mizrah, featuring 18 different points of interest and utterly new movement mechanisms.
Many players have been complaining lately that the game will launch via something other than Battle.net. And to be honest, this problem has nothing to do with your PC hardware. Nowadays, most games fail to launch during startup, and Warzone 2 is no exception.
So that is why I decided to research a bit and put down all the fixes recommended by the community of the COD Warzone on Reddit in one place so that players don’t have to check multiple sources for them.
So this article will guide you on how to fix the Call of Duty Warzone 2 won’t launch issue.
Fix Call of Duty Warzone 2 Won’t Launch
Compare the requirements for Warzone 2.0 with your Hardware Specs
First, do you meet the minimum system requirements to launch the Warzone 2.0 game? Here are the minimum and recommended system requirements for Warzone 2.
Minimum System Requirements
- CPU – Core i3 6100 or Core i5 2500K or Ryzen 3 1200
- Memory – 8 GB
- Graphics – GTX 960 or AMD RX 470
- DirectX – v12
- Network – Broadband Internet
- Storage – 125 GB
- Operating System—Windows 10/Windows 11 (64-Bit Operating System)
Recommended System Requirements
- CPU – Core i5 6600K or Core i7 4770 or Ryzen 5 1400
- Memory – 12 GB
- Graphics – GTX 1060 or AMD RX 580
- DirectX – v12
- Network – Broadband Internet
- Storage – 125 GB
- Operating System – Windows 10/Windows 11 (64-Bit Operating System)
Drivers for Warzone 2.0
For Nvidia users, the recommended GameReady Driver version is 526.86. You can find the links below:
For AMD users, the recommended Driver version is Adrenaline 22.11.1. You can find the links below:
Always make sure you are using the dedicated GPU
Remember that you will need a dedicated GPU to play Warzone 2.0; integrated GPUs on non-gaming laptops are not supported. Also, make sure that your Operating system is entirely up-to-date. I am currently using Windows 10, and this is the latest update I have received.
I currently own four different GPUs and thoroughly tested the game. It seems like all of them are having the same issue. So it is not a hardware issue. There might be a software issue somewhere that is preventing Warzone 2.0 from launching.
You can try repairing the files
Since the game is available for free on Steam, the first thing I did was verify the files. Follow these steps to verify Warzone 2 on Steam:
- Open your Steam Library.
- Locate Call of Duty Warzone 2.0.
- Right-click on it and select Properties.
- Now, select Local Files from the left and click on ‘Verify integrity of game files.’
- The verification process will start, but it will take some time.
- After the process, restart Steam and try rebooting the game.
If you currently own the game on Battle.net, then select the Warzone 2 game inside the Battlenet client, and beside the Play Button, there is a settings icon. Click on that and hit Scan and Repair.
Even though this method worked for many but not for me. The reason is the new Anti-Cheat implemented in COD games starting from Vanguard, the Ricochet. This anti-cheat software are the culprit when it comes to launching issues. However, developers are continuously working to fix the problem.
Programs conflicting with the Game
The Call of Duty Warzone 2 might have issues like a conflicting program or an app running in the background. To fix that, you need to
- Launch “System Configuration” from the search bar.
- Go to the “Services” tab.
- Check “Hide all Microsoft services”.
- Click the “Disable all” button. Leave PC manufacturer-related programs checked.
- Hit the “Apply” button & restart the PC.
Your Anti-virus software might be preventing the game from launching
You can also disable the Real-Time Scanning or Protection by temporarily disabling the Antivirus software. Or you can add the whole game to the ‘Exceptions’ list in your Antivirus software. I use Windows Defender, so this is what I had to do:
- Open the Windows 10 Settings menu and click on ‘Update & Security.’
- Then, from the left, select Windows Security,
- Click on Virus & Treat Protection, scroll down, and select ‘Manage settings’ under ‘Virus & Threat Protection settings.’
- Scroll down again to find the ‘Exclusion’ sections, and click on ‘Add or remove exclusions.’
- Now select ‘Add an exclusion’, choose a ‘Folder’, go to SteamLibrary > steamapps > common, and select the entire ‘Call of Duty Warzone 2’ folder.
- Open up the ‘Firewall & network protection’ settings and select ‘Allow an app through firewall.’
- Locate ‘Call of Duty Warzone 2.0’ from the list and make sure that both ‘Private’ and ‘Public’ are ticked.
- As soon as I followed these steps, Call of Duty Warzone 2 launched successfully without a hitch.
Since then, I have spent more than 2+ hours in the game, and everything went smoothly. Try out these suggestions if you have a different Antivirus software installed.
- Comodo – For Comodo, Select Settings > Advanced Protections > Miscellaneous > Detect Shell Code Injections, and you will have to add the entire COD Warzone 2.0 to the exclusions list.
- Bullguard – Go to settings and uncheck the Self-protection
- Kaspersky – Right-Click on the Kaspersky icon on the taskbar and select the option ‘Pause Protection.’
Use the exe file of COD Warzone 2 to run it directly as an admin
Avoid launching the game from Battle.net or Steam; instead, try running it as an admin from the installation folder. So this is how you can do it.
- Find your Call of Duty Warzone 2.0 Folder (Right Click on Warzone 2.0 Game on the Steam library and select Manage and click on Browse Local files)
- Right click on Warzone2.exe
- Click on Compatibility Tab
- Check mark the option “Run this program as an administrator.”
Update Visual C++ Redistributables and Restart
I recommend updating the Visual C++ Redistributable because it may not have been installed correctly. This will fix issues like “vcruntime140_1.dll missing” or “MSVCP140.dll was not found”.
Right now, these are the only legit fixes and working according to the Community regarding Warzone 2 won’t launch. But we will be adding more soon.
Remember that none of these methods are advanced and are pretty basic. There is no guarantee that these steps will fix your problem 100%. If the issue you are facing is severe, then the best option would be to contact Activision support. I suggest you look at the official Warzone 2 Reddit or the Steam discussions page of COD Warzone 2. You will find a lot of players discussing these same issues.
If you think this guide has helped, then let us know in the comment section below. And for more COD Warzone 2 guides, keep an eye on Frondtech. We will be covering every single technical issue and bug of the game. Good luck!
That’s all, folks!
Last Updated on November 16, 2022
Akash Roy, 31, Senior Editor at Frondtech and an avid gamer by choice dabbles in all things tech. Whether be it spending hours in single-player narrative-based games or going through the latest innovation in technology and chip manufacturing he prefers to stay on top of things. At the other times, you’ll find him tucked away drumming and headbanging to Rock and Roll Classics.