Your GTA 5 PC doesn’t start and you get error messages? If that is the case and the game simply does not start and shows a black screen, then we have summarized some possible causes and of course solutions for you here. A short time ago the time had finally come and after it was postponed a few times and many players were already looking forward to the day with great excitement, GTA 5 from Rockstar Games has now also been released for the PC. As expected, the game is very popular and is probably one of the best games currently, and not just in the open-world genre. But as is usually the case with such large game releases, for the majority of players everything runs without any problems and you can start the game straight away after installation, but for some there are errors. This has already been experienced a few times, especially with PC games, and it is rarely the players or developers who are to blame, but rather their own system and, for example, outdated drivers or an incorrect download of the game data. If your GTA 5 PC won’t start and just shows a black screen or crashes with some other error, then the following tips may help you.
GTA 5 PC won’t start and shows black screen – what to do?
Possible solutions if GTA 5 does not start and shows a black screen
If you are struggling with problems of this kind after successfully installing GTA 5, you should probably try and check the following things. As always, feel free to share your experiences with us in the comments if you also struggled with the problem and perhaps already have a solution.
Content
- GTA 5 PC won’t start and shows black screen – what to do?
- Check system requirements
- Install current drivers, especially graphics card drivers
- Check game files for errors
- Rockstar Update Service is unavailable Code 1
- Grand Theft Auto V Launcher has stopped working
- Unable to access Rockstar servers. Activating GTA V requires an internet connection
- An error occurred while updating Grand Theft Auto V (content still encrypted)
Check system requirements
Sometimes the cause of the problem can simply be that your computer or notebook does not meet the system requirements and then you should not be surprised if GTA 5 for PC does not start or only shows a black screen after starting and crashes. When it comes to the graphics card in particular, the system requirements are often underestimated and this is often the reason for problems. You can find the GTA 5 PC system requirements under the linked article.
Install current drivers, especially graphics card drivers
As already mentioned above, in addition to the system requirements not being met, sometimes it is simply the missing drivers. Similar problems have occurred in the past, such as a black screen when starting the game or it crashing immediately after starting because ancient graphics card drivers were simply installed. Not only if GTA 5 stutters but also if there are problems when starting, an update of the drivers and especially the graphics card drivers can certainly be a possible solution. This will also have a positive effect on performance, as graphics card manufacturers usually make optimizations to the drivers for big games like Grand Theft Auto 5 so that everything runs as perfectly as possible.
Check game files for errors
Anyone who bought GTA 5 via Steam should try the following again. Many will certainly have already downloaded the game in the preload. If something goes wrong there or a file is damaged, you can fix it very quickly thanks to a built-in Steam function. Especially if GTA 5 crashes or simply doesn’t start, simply open the GTA 5 properties in your Steam library and run the “Check game files for errors” function under “Local Files”.
Rockstar Update Service is unavailable Code 1
If something goes wrong during the installation and the error message “Rockstar Update Service is unavailable Code 1“ are displayed, then you will find a possible solution in the article linked here.
Grand Theft Auto V Launcher has stopped working
Do you have a notebook with an internal and an NVIDIA graphics card? Then you may get the error message Grand Theft Auto V Launcher no longer works when you try to start the game. The reason for this error was often mentioned in connection with crashes and we have described it in more detail in the following article.
Unable to access Rockstar servers. Activating GTA V requires an internet connection
We are currently getting the error message “Unable to access Rockstar servers. Activating GTA V requires an internet connection“ when you try to start GTA 5 and log in. You can see from the error message that it is probably and hopefully only a temporary problem with the servers. We have described more here.
An error occurred while updating Grand Theft Auto V (content still encrypted)
For example, if you have already completed the preload via Steam, you will receive the error message “An error occurred while updating Grand Theft Auto V (content is still encrypted)” before the official release. Don’t worry, this is of course not a mistake but the game is simply kept under wraps until the official release on April 14th, 2015 around 11:00 a.m. Hopefully the game files will then be unlocked on time and the error message “An error occurred while updating Grand Theft Auto V (contents still encrypted)” should no longer appear in Steam when you try to start GTA 5.
For now, these are all the tips we know if GTA 5 PC doesn’t start. We will of course add further possible solutions to this page as soon as more is known or other problems are reported. If you already know other possible solutions, please write to us in the comments section on this page. We will of course include the tips here so that everyone can immerse themselves in the world of GTA 5 on the PC as quickly as possible.
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