Fix: PUBG Failed to Initialize Steam

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds or PUBG is one of the biggest and best battle royale games that are currently out there. With regular updates and unique gameplay, this game has been truly a success. More and more games readily try to mimic PUBG but none have yet achieved the level of PUBG. The sort of addiction the game offers, it really gets annoying when you face an issue that’s pretty common yet cannot figure out a way to get around it. Well, worry no more as we’ll be showing you how to get back in the action!

What Causes the PUBG Failed to Initialize Error?

Well, according to PUBG support, this error occurs when you haven’t installed your game properly but, apparently, that’s not all of it. This issue occurs due to permitted permissions to the game files, bugged steam i.e very rare, incomplete installation as mentioned above, outdated graphics drivers etc.

With that being said, let’s jump into the gist of most of the solutions out there:

Solution 1: Disabling Administrative Power

This is the most common and effective solution for your issue. Most of the people have reported that revoking the administrative power of the game files has resolved their issue. To do this:

1. Go to where your Steam is installed which, by default, is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\ or C:\Program Files\Steam\.
2. Once you are in your Steam directory, make your way to steamapps\common\TslGame\Binaries\Win64\.
3. There, locate the Tslgame.exe file.
4. Right click on it and click Properties.
5. Go to the Compatibility tab and uncheck ‘Run as an Administrator’.

Solution 2: Restarting Steam

The issue sometimes randomly arises due to Steam which is pretty to solve. All you have to do is:

1. Exit your game.
2. Right-click the taskbar and open Task Manager.
3. On Task Manager, go to Processes Tab.
4. Look for any Steam and TslGame process and end it.

   

5. Boot up Steam again and open your game.

Note: If this doesn’t work, try restarting your PC.

Solution 3: Updating Your Drivers

Another cause of the problem is outdated drivers. You should always look out for new updates for your graphics card from your manufacturer may it be AMD or Nvidia. To update your drivers:

1. On your Desktop, right click ‘My Computer’ and click ‘Device Manager’.
2. Click on Display Adapters, right click on your Graphics Card and select ‘Update Driver Software’.

   

3. Afterward, click on ‘Search automatically for updated driver software’.

If your computer doesn’t automatically update your driver, you can easily do it manually by downloading the update from your manufacturer’s website and installing it which is pretty straightforward.

Solution 4: Verifying Game Integrity

The problem could very well be due to broken or corrupted game files. Fortunately, whenever your game files are broken, you can easily verify them via steam. For this, what you have to do is:

1. Open up Steam and go to the Library section.
2. Locate PUBG and right click on it which will drop down a menu. Click on Properties.
3. To verify your files, click the Local Files tab and click ‘Verify integrity of game files’.

   

4.  Wait for it to complete your game files verification. After it is done, try running your game.

Solution 5: Reinstalling Steam

If nothing of the above-mentioned fixes work for you, reinstalling Steam is your last resort. This will most likely solve your problem and you’ll be good to go. Just go to the Steam’s website, download the software and install.

1. Press Windows + R, type “appwiz.cpl” in the dialogue box and press Enter.
2. Once in the application manager, search for the entry of Steam. Right-click it and select Uninstall.  (You can also execute the uninstaller from Steam’s directory).

   

3. Restart your computer and after downloading a fresh version of Steam, install it again on your computer.

Note: Please do note that, contrary to the instructions mentioned in the first fix, PUBG support tells you to run TlsGame.exe as an administrator. Doing that doesn’t fix your problem – overlooking the fact that the file (TlsGame.exe) runs as an administrator by default.