How to fix cities skylines black screen issue

A city-building game called Cities: Skylines was created by Colossal Order and released by Paradox Interactive in 2015. The simulation game is an open-ended simulation of city building for a single player. By managing an area’s zoning, road layout, taxation, public services, and public transportation, players participate in urban planning. Additionally, they work to manage the city’s finances, health, employment, traffic, and pollution levels, among other aspects. Additionally, a city can be maintained in sandbox mode, giving the player more creative freedom.

Colossal Order’s earlier Cities in Motion action games, which emphasized creating efficient transportation systems, were developed into Cities: Skylines. Cities: Skylines was just released on Steam, and so far, user feedback has been positive. However, some players are reporting errors and bugs in the game. It introduces a new gameplay element that recognizes the thrill and difficulties of building and maintaining a real city while also expanding some of the well-established tropes of the city building experience. This recently released game is a modern take on the traditional city simulation.

Ways to fix cities skylines black screen issue

Disable Overlay Applications

Some affected players claim that overlay applications can run in the background while they play games and essentially consume system resources, which will also affect gameplay. Therefore, if you aren’t using any specific overlay applications for chatting, taking screenshots, or recording gameplay sessions, disabling them before starting the online game will be useful. To do this:

1. Open the Steam client > go to the Library.
2. Now right click on Cities Skylines > Select Properties.
3. Go to the General section and uncheck the Enable Steam Overlay checkbox.
4. Go back to the Library > Reopen Cities Skylines and see if you are experiencing black screen issues.

Verify Game Files and Repair

1. Open Steam > Go to the Library.
2. Right click on the Cities Skylines game.
3. Click on Properties > Go to the Local Files tab.
4. Verify game file integrity… select the “Verify integrity of game files…” option.
5. This process will begin verifying and checking all installed game files for missing or corrupt files.
6. Wait for the process to complete. Once complete, close the Steam client, restart your computer, and apply the changes.
7. Finally, reopen Steam and try launching the Cities Skylines game again.

Update DirectX

1. Download the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer to your PC from this Microsoft link.
2. Next, manually install or update your version of DirectX.
3. Once complete, restart your computer and apply the changes.

Check Windows Updates

Additionally, there is a good chance that your Windows OS build will eventually become out of date. In that case, aside from bugs or stability problems, your gameplay performance will be greatly impacted. The most recent version of Windows should always be installed, so check for updates (if available). For that:

1. Press the Windows key + I key to display the Windows Settings menu.
2. Next, click on “Update and Security” and under “Windows Update” select “Check for Updates“.
3. If there is an update available, select “Download and Install“.
4. Wait a few moments for the update to complete.
5. Finally, restart your PC or laptop and the changes will be applied immediately.

Run the game as an Administrator

1. Right-click on the Cities Skylines exe shortcut file on your gaming PC.
2. Then select Properties and click on the Compatibility tab.
3. Click on the “Run this program as an administrator” checkbox and make sure it is checked.
4. Click “Apply” and select “OK” to save your changes.

Reinstall Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime

1. From the keyboard, press the Windows key to open the “Start Menu“.
2. Type “Apps and Features” and click among the search results.
3. Now look for the Microsoft Visual C++ program(s).
4. Select each program and click Uninstall.
5. Go to the official Microsoft website and download the latest version of Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime.
6. Once installed, install it on your computer and reboot your system to change its effect.

Disable Full-Screen Optimizations

1. First, go to C:³ Files (x86)³Steamapps ³Common³ Cities Skylines ³Binaries ³Win64³ directory. [If you have the Steam client or game installed on a different drive or location, move it there.]
2. Right-click on the Cities Skylines.exe file and click Properties.
3. Compatibility tab > Uncheck the Enable Full Screen Optimization toggle.
4. Click Apply, then click OK to save changes.

Check Graphics Driver Update

Check your computer’s graphics driver update to see if it needs to be updated, if at all. A corrupted driver or an out-of-date GPU driver version can occasionally lead to a variety of problems. It will also assist you in resolving game or application-related black screen problems. To do this:

1. Press the Windows key and the X key to display the Quick Links menu.
2. Now click on “Device Manager” from the list > Double-click on “Display Adapters“.
3. Right-click on the dedicated graphics card you are using.
4. Next, select “Update Drivers” > Select “Search for Drivers Automatically“.
5. If there are updates available, they will be downloaded and installed automatically.
6. Once complete, restart your desktop computer to apply the changes.

Update Cities Skylines

Use Steam

1. Open the Steam client > Go to the Library > Click on Cities Skylines from the left pane.
2. Available updates will automatically be searched. If there is an available update, be sure to click Update.
3. It may take some time for the update to install.
4. Finally, restart your PC to apply the changes and try starting the game again.

Epic Launcher

1. Open the Epic client > Go to the Library > Click on Cities Skylines from the left pane.
2. Available updates will be searched automatically. If there is an update available, be sure to click Update.
3. Finally, restart your PC to apply the changes and try to start the game again.

Final Words

So here we conclude our article on how to fix cities skylines black screen issue. To surpass SimCity from 2013, Cities: Skylines only needed to be an excellent city builder without making any of EA’s mistakes. That entails no DRM that requires constant Internet access, a large development area, and support for unique content.

Good news: Skylines accomplishes all of this. The good news is that it’s also a charming and captivating city-building adventure game. The affected players claim that the game simply remains on the black screen whenever they try to launch it, according to numerous reports posted online. There is also no sound during the black screen, which is a serious problem.