What is the Lost Ark Not Loading Issue?
The Lost Ark not loading problem is nothing but frustrating at its very core. You download the game, set it up, and finally launch it only to discover that the title isn’t progressing past the loading screen. It’s either that or the game does not launch at all. No matter the amount of time you wait, the game just won’t budge from its position and will seemingly pull you in inside an endless loop.
Key Highlights
- The lost Ark not loading (halts at the loading screen) issue mostly occurs when you have just installed and launched the game. However, it may occur again after you have progressed a little through the game.
- The potential fixes given here might not always work for everyone but they have a high chance of sorting out the issue.
- Start with easy fixes like running the game as Administrator by right-clicking on the game and going to the “Properties” section.
- Updating Graphics Drivers will most probably fix the launching problem. To know the manufacturer of the drivers just go to the Device Manager > Display Adapters.
- If the problem remains, try logging out of the existing steam account and logging in from an alternate account. If the problem is solved, you can switch back to the original steam account.
- Turn off Full-screen optimizations by launching the steam and going to Library > Lost Ark > Properties > Local Files > Browse > Binaries > Win64 > Lost Ark > Properties > Compatibility > Disable Full-screen Optimizations.
- Consider disabling the antivirus, or updating the whole game. Re-install the game if none of them works.
This is definitely undesirable to say the very least and you ultimately cannot play the game because of it. By lingering around in community forums, we’ve managed to dig up that the issue in question can often evolve. That is to say, you might be able to get past the initial loading screen, but the problem will resurface at a later time, as one user has pointed out in the Lost Ark forums.
In addition, if you have been able to play past the initial stages of the game, the not launching error might relapse when you enter a new area. Several players have complained about this problem where the loading only progresses to about 75% and then freezes mid-way.
The end result is that you’re simply not able to play the game. Now, this issue may result from a wide variety of reasons. Some of your game files might be missing from their designated place or just outright corrupted. In addition, your copy of the title might require optimization from the “Properties” area to launch properly. The section of this guide below will cover the most plausible reasons you’re running into this issue.
We’ll be sure to talk about the best and easiest way of going through each fix, so you’ll have little to no difficulty in replicating them on your end. Let’s dive right into them, therefore, without any further ado.
Don’t Miss: Street Fighter 5 Not Launching
Best Ways to Fix Lost Ark Not Loading or Launching
The following is our round-up of the best ways out there that players have been using to resolve the Lost Ark not launching issue. While we cannot guarantee that all of these fixes will work, there’s a strong likelihood of you resolving the problem by incorporating the outlined fixes as they’re instructed. Just make sure to follow the guidelines meticulously for the best results.
Similar Read: Skyrim SE Won’t Launch
Verify the Integrity of Game Files on Steam
One of the most robust methods that people have been employing to fix Lost Ark not loading revolves around the utilization of an in-built Steam feature. The latter makes it possible to examine the downloaded game for discrepancies in terms of missing or corrupted files. That way, if the issue in question relates to the configuration of the title, the problem will be fixed by Steam’s authentication tool itself.
The best part is that using this tool is extremely painless. All you have to do is fire up the Steam launcher, head over to the “Library” area, select the “Properties” of the game, then click on the “Verify integrity of game files” option. A prompt will surface from then on, illustrating a progress tracker. As soon as the process finishes, you’re free to shut down Steam and launch Lost Ark again.
If you’re fairly new to PC gaming and don’t know how this is done, don’t fret. The following instructions are going to take you through the procedure in a step-by-step manner, so you can replicate the guidelines on your end seamlessly.
- The first step is to open the Steam desktop client on your Windows PC. This can be done from the Windows Start menu or from the Taskbar if you have the app pinned there.
2. Once done, go to the “Library” section within Steam’s interface to find the list of games you have installed on the device. Select Lost Ark from the sidebar by right-clicking on it and following it up by selecting “Properties” to get to the next step.
3. As soon as you’re done there, click on “Local Files” from the column of options on the left to get straight to the section we need to get to. From there, you’ll visibly observe the “Verify the integrity of game files” option. Click on the designated button to begin the process.
After a brief while, a prompt will appear on the screen, confirming that the verification process was a success. As soon as that happens, try launching the affected MMORPG to see if the Lost Ark not loading issue still exists. If it woefully does, keep on reading for more possible solutions. You will have to go a little deeper than file verification through the Steam launcher after all.
Also Read: Fix Modern Warfare Dev Error 6068
Run the Title With Administrator Privileges
The next potential fix in line is also a simple one, albeit exceedingly effective. Prompting Lost Ark to use administrator privileges to launch and load is sure to prevent you from running into a bevy of issues. It’s certainly worth, therefore, to instruct the game to run as an administrator for the best results. If you’re unaware of the process that does this, read on to learn how to apply this stratagem.
1. Get started by launching the Steam desktop launcher and making your way to the “Library” section within the application’s interface. When you’re there, select Lost Ark from the sidebar and open its “Properties.” This first step is similar to what we did initially when the integrity of game files needed to be verified.
2. The next step is to select “Local Files” from the sidebar and then click on “Browse,” as shown in the screenshot below. This will help us get straight to the installation folder of Lost Ark, which is exactly where we’ll locate the game’s main executable file.
3. After clicking on “Browse,” you will be taken to the main Lost Ark directory that’s stored on your PC. Click on the “Binaries” folder and then select the “Win64” directory to get to the next step. Next, scroll down a little until you find the “LOSTARK” application. You’ve finally located the file. Double-click on it to reveal more options and finally choose “Properties” to get to the next step.
4. As soon as you complete the last step, a small-scale window will pop up on the screen, allowing you to optimize the game’s properties. Continue by clicking on the “Compatibility” tab and then checking the box beside “Run this program as an administrator.” This is bound to do the trick for you.
That’s all about this error-fixing measure for the Lost Ark not launching issue. Try starting up the game now to see if the problem still persists. You should hopefully be able to experience the title just fine, but if things still aren’t working out for you, try out this next potential solution in line.
Sign In Using an Alternate Account
From what we can gather using player reports and community comments, there’s an easy fix to the Lost Ark not loading scenario. All you have to do to get the game working again is simply sign out with your primary account in Steam, log in using another account, preferably an alternate one, and finally sign back in with your primary Steam account.
This will somehow bypass the Lost Ark not launching problem and help you get back on your feet in the land of Arkesia. Try it on your end and see how it goes. Make sure to properly log out of the Steam client launcher and shut it down afterward. Start it up again to sign in with your secondary account.
Once done, log out one more time, and close Steam as well. Finally, open it up and use your primary account again to log in to Lost Ark. This should help resolve the issue in question, but if you still haven’t lucked out, keep on reading for other measures to approach.
Recommended From eXputer: Apex Legends No Servers Found
Update Your Graphics Drivers
Updating your graphics drivers to the latest version is a must-do if you plan on having the best possible experience with your installed games. Otherwise, a plethora of issues can surface, including Lost Ark not loading. Now, this depends on the manufacturer you have the graphics drivers installed of. Go into the Device Manager section of your Windows PC, followed by expanding the “Display adapters” option.
That way, you’ll be able to confirm what drivers your PC has been shipped with. We’re going to leave website links for two of the most popular graphics card manufacturers to help you quickly achieve the task at hand. If your particular graphics driver does not relate to these two companies, feel free to look for the one specific to you online.
After updating your graphics drivers, try launching Lost Ark again to see if it loads up properly now. There’s a strong likelihood that the game should run as intended, given that we’ve made one of our essential system components get up to speed with the rest of the PC. However, if the Lost Ark not launching hassle still doesn’t budge from its position, keep on reading to try more potential fixes.
Also Read: Lego Star Wars Skywalker Saga Bugs
Optimize the Launch Option for Lost Ark
There’s another trick that can possibly help you fix Lost Ark and make it playable again. The fix lies within the “Properties” section of the game and can be effortlessly accessed through the Steam launcher. What we’re about to tweak is generally intended for power users, but the method of application is fairly uncomplicated, so it won’t truly matter if you’re a beginner or an advanced user.
The feature in question simply pertains to the launch option for the game. We’ll be inputting a command and making Lost Ark launch in fullscreen mode. This potential fix has worked for a bevy of players across the spectrum, so here’s hoping that you might be able to resolve the issue on your end as well. To learn how to do this, follow the steps listed ahead.
1. The first step is open the Steam desktop client on your Windows PC and head over to the “Library” section of the app’s interface. As soon as you’re done, double-click on Lost Ark and select “Properties.” That should take you to the next step.
2. Clicking on the “Properties” button will lead you straight to the “General” tab in the subsequently appearing window. From there, you will observe a section called “Launch Options.” From there, type in the following on your end and press the “Enter” key afterward to finalize the changes. You can then close the window to complete this procedure.
-fullscreen
That’s all about it for this potential fix. Try launching the game now to see if it properly works or not. Hopefully, the Lost Ark not loading issue should be resolved by now as it did for several other players trying the same technique as shown above. If you’re still not able to find any luck in this regard, keep on reading for more potential solutions.
- More From eXputer: COD Warzone Profile Not Allowed
Toggle Off Fullscreen Optimizations
Some players have reported that the “Fullscreen optimization” feature in Windows 10 has been barring them from playing the title, thereby resulting in the Lost Ark not loading issue. Without any further ado, it’s definitely worth trying and disabling this functionality to see if that fixes the problem in question. You’ll find this feature in the “Properties” section of the main game file.
Getting there is outright painless, but the following steps will make the process even more hassle-free for you. Let’s get into them right away.
1. Begin by launching the Steam desktop launcher and making your way to the “Library” section within the application’s interface. When you’re there, select Lost Ark from the sidebar and open its “Properties.” This first step is similar to what we did initially when the integrity of game files needed to be verified.
2. The next step is to select “Local Files” from the sidebar and then click on “Browse,” as shown in the screenshot below. This will help us get straight to the installation folder of Lost Ark, which is exactly where we’ll locate the game’s main executable file.
3. After clicking on “Browse,” you will be taken to the main Lost Ark directory. Click on the “Binaries” folder and then select the “Win64” directory to get to the next step. Next, scroll down until you find the “LOSTARK” application. Double-click on the file to reveal more options and finally choose “Properties” to get to the next step.
4. Clicking on the “LOSTARK” file will lead another window to manifest on your Windows PC. To get to the “Fullscreen optimizations” feature, you will need to click on the “Compatibility” tab at the top of this window. Doing so will allow you to check the box beside “Disable fullscreen optimizations” and complete the process. The screenshot below should help clarify things for you.
Once you’ve toggled off this added feature, continue toward launching the title and determining whether the Lost Ark not loading issue still manages to persevere. If it does, keep on reading to try more potential solutions.
More From eXputer: Apex Legends Infinite Loading Screen
Disable All Overlaying Applications, Including the Steam Overlay Feature
Another probable reason that you’re constantly being unable to play Lost Ark is due to overlaying applications. These certain programs are those that appear over another window or inside one, thereby serving as a small-scale toolbar to implement a wide variety of functions for that specific software.
One glaring example of this scenario is Steam Overlay, functioning as a robust method of playing Steam games more efficiently. The functionality makes it possible to access your list of added friends, execute microtransactions, chat with other players, and enable matchmaking invites among other functions.
While Steam Overlay is a genuinely helpful feature, we recommend turning it off to see if that would help us fix the bother we’re currently facing. To do this, you’ll need to follow the steps given below.
1. The first step is to pop open the “Properties” of Lost Ark in your Steam Library. This can only be done when you’re inside the Steam launcher.
2. The next step is to click on the “General” section and tap on the checkbox beside “Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game.” That’s going to do the trick for us.
Disabling Steam Overlay on a Windows PC is as easy as that. However, our efforts do not end here. The next step is to fire up the Task Manager on the device and look for other overlaying applications. Keeping them from running on your PC is a good potential method for fixing the Lost Ark not loading bother. Use the “Esc,” “Shift,” and “Esc” shortcut key combination to access the Task Manager and look for apps with an overlay feature.
While you’re at it, it’s worth terminating all unwanted background processes as well that are hoarding useful system resources for no reason, especially overlaying applications. Complete this step and launch Lost Ark again to determine if doing so has worked or not. You should be able to play the game just fine now, but if the problem still hasn’t been resolved, keep on reading for a couple of more potential fixes.
Turn Off Your Antivirus Software
The Lost Ark community forums are of big help in digging out resourceful information in cases of bugs, issues, and other glitches. We’ve managed to find out that disabling your installed antivirus software on your PC has proven to be effective for fixing Lost Ark not loading.
Therefore, if you’ve got the Windows Firewall Defender software up and running on your device, try turning it off temporarily to see if that would help solve the problem at hand. The following steps will tell you how to do just that, so keep on reading for more information.
1. Get started by searching for “Windows Security” in the Windows Search bar. Click on the application when it pops up to get to the next step.
2. Right after that, select the “Virus and threat protection” section to move forward. In the final step, you should be able to disable your Windows antivirus software.
3. In the final step, simply turn off the following features in the “Virus and threat protection settings” section. All you have to do is click on the respective toggle underneath each setting to disable it. This should be fairly simple to complete.
You’ve now fully disabled your operating system’s in-built antivirus program in the hope of resolving the bug in question. However, it’s worth noting that this strategy goes for any third-party antivirus software that you’ve installed as well.
Therefore, other antivirus software that you may have installed on your Windows PC, such as Norton, Malwarebytes, Avira, or Avast can possibly detect Lost Ark as a threat and hinder it from connecting to online servers. You have to try turning their core functionality off if you’re using any other antivirus program instead of Windows Defender.
Try this and launch Lost Ark to see if you can finally connect to the game’s servers. There’s a likelihood that you now can, but if the problem still doesn’t go away, keep on reading for other types of potential solutions.
- Check Out: Fix Rainbow Six Siege Crashing
Optimize the RivaTuner Statistics Server
If you use a combination of the MSI Afterburner graphics card optimization software alongside the RunaTuner Statistics Server, this fix is for you. If you don’t have any of these programs installed on your PC, skip to the next section. One Reddit user has claimed that tweaking the RivaTuner Statistics Server application so it simply doesn’t detect Lost Ark can help you avoid the not launching problem of the title.
While we haven’t replicated the guidelines exactly, the effort is definitely worth making either way. Get started by shutting down the game if it was started. Then, fire up the software on your end, select Lost Ark from the list of apps, and set the “Application Detection Level” for it to “None.” That should do the trick for you.
Try playing the game now to see if the Lost Ark not launching hassle still continues to be a bother. If you had both RivaTuner Statistics Server and MSI Afterburner installed on the PC, there’s a high chance that you’ll be able to enjoy the MMORPG just like before. If not, though, keep on reading to try other solutions.
Check Out: Fallout 4 Black Screen Issue
Calibrate the Display Settings
There’s another measure to take for fixing this concurrent Lost Ark not launching error. This potential solution is recommended for Windows 11 users who might have improperly set display settings thereby hindering the MMORPG from launching and loading properly. The fix is easy to employ and you only have to go through a couple of steps in order to get it done. For this purpose, the following instructions are going to take it from here.
1. The first step is to double-click anywhere on the Windows 11 home screen. This should reveal more options on the screen for you. Click on “Display settings” to get to the next step.
2. Right after that, the “Settings” window will pop up on the screen for you, allowing you to tweak options related to your system’s display. Scroll down a little in that category to seek out the “Scale and layout” section. Now, please make sure that you’ve set “Scale” to the “100% (Recommended)” option. In addition, the “Display resolution” setting should be in accordance with your monitor’s native display quality.
Now this, obviously, ultimately boils down to the make and model of the monitor you have. We can’t take a wild guess in this case since every device is built differently, so you’ll have to figure this one out yourself. After you’ve picked the right display resolution for your specific monitor, close the window, and try launching Lost Ark again to see if anything has improved.
You should be able to play flawlessly now, given that we’ve set out display resolution and taken care of this integral system component. If, however, the problem still continues to manifest, then it appears you have to invest some time and energy into reinstalling the game, which we’re about to cover next.
Also Read: Dragon Age Inquisition Won’t Launch
Uninstall Lost Ark
If nothing else has come to fruition at all and you’re left with absolutely nothing, then it seems the only option available is uninstalling the game and then installing it back again on the system. This potential method has been a life-saver for troubled Lost Ark players looking to fix the game and hop back into the land of Arkesia. Simply delete the game from Steam or whatever platform you have it on to get started.
Once done, proceed to installing your copy of the MMORPG back on your system. Wait until the download finishes and then start the game. Download any updates if you’re prompted to and finalize the process by attempting to sign into the multiplayer servers. If you can play the title from there on out painlessly, congratulations! You’ve just resolved the Lost Ark not loading error.
Related Read: Minecraft Stuck on Mojang Screen
Wait for an Update
Some in-game issues are just unsolvable, no matter how hard you try to fix them on your Windows PC or gaming console. While the Lost Ark not loading hassle can be alleviated with a number of these aforementioned solutions, there’s still a chance that none of them will work. In such a dire scenario, it’s worth getting in contact with the developers of the game and waiting for a bug-fixing update.
For instance, this Tweet from the official Twitter handle of the MMORPG seems to address most related issues with the game as of the present. Therefore, it’s worth keeping pace with what the developers post regularly and staying in the loop of what’s currently happening for Lost Ark.
What’s more is that the servers might be pulled for maintenance purposes and you, on the other hand, could be running into the game not launching issue constantly. When you’re unaware of official updates like these, it gets difficult to know the exact methodology you can use to fix your game in case of an issue. For instance, all Lost Ark servers and regions were taken down in recent times to implement backend changes.
During this period, it’s needless to say that the game was in an unplayable state. If someone tried launching the game in that time, they would obviously be met with the Lost Ark loading error. This is why it’s imperative to stay up-to-speed with official developer updates and not miss out on substantial news such as this. With that being said, it is now time to conclude the article.
Takeaway
Lost Ark just made its way onto Steam and fans of the MMORPG genre couldn’t be any more excited. This tip-top title packs one of the most action-packed free-roaming adventures of all time, guaranteeing high-end replayability value and vast realms to explore and conquer. The combat system is fruitfully engaging and the rest of the game mechanics are outright satisfying and rewarding in an equal measure.
The best part, or should we say, the cherry on top is the fact that Lost Ark is a completely free-to-play title. It’s exempt from ridiculous paywalls and doesn’t lock content behind microtransactions unless you’re after cosmetically pleasing in-game items. From the graphics of the title down to the very design of the world is shaped, Lost Ark packs one whale of a punch in terms of gripping players and taking them on a rollercoaster of thrill and excitement.
With all of this being said though, it’s worth noting that the MMOARPG, as the developers like to term it, isn’t free from its fair share of persistent errors and bugs. One prominent example of the scenario at hand is the Lost Ark loading error, barring players from loading the game and shutting them out of the title’s core functionality. This isn’t something that enthusiastic gamers can work with, so a need for a solution is very much in need.
That is why we decided to put together this guide of the most robust potential fixes out there to the Lost Ark not launching issue so players can get right back on their feet in the vast stretches of Arkesia. We recommend giving each listed solution a shot and not leaving any stone unturned. Do let us know down in the comments section if you were able to get Lost Ark working on your end.
As always, eXputer wishes you good luck!
Similar Guide: Guardians of the Galaxy Crashing
Thanks! Do share your feedback with us. ⚡
How could we improve this post? Please Help us. ✍
