The wait for Poppy Playtime’s Chapter 3 was long, but in the end, it was certainly worth it. Released on January 30, 2024, reviews for Chapter 3 have been quite great so far, with some even considering it the best episode so far. However, like any other newly released game, Chapter 3 happens to have some issues with it. And currently, a major source of frustration for many players is that the DLC is not launching at all.
Currently, we don’t really know what’s the main cause behind this issue. For some, it could be the game having some missing files, while for others, it could be due to the anti-virus producing a false positive. Regardless of what the cause here is, an issue like this can’t be ignored. So, let’s go ahead and find out all the possible workarounds for this.
Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 not launching for many players: Is there any fix yet?
Players can make use of the following workarounds to resolve this issue. Try these and see if any of them are of help to you.
Restart Steam –
The very first thing we recommend players do is to simply restart Steam. Once you have restarted Steam, launch the game from there and see if the issue continues. If it does, switch to the next workaround.
Repair the game’s files –
A common fix for issues such as this one happens to be repairing the game’s files. When a game’s file gets corrupted or goes missing, issues like this one become a common occurrence. In such cases, the only fix is to verify and repair the game’s file. To do that, you will need to open Steam, navigate to Library, and right-click on Poppy Playtime. Next, choose Properties > Installed Files > Verify integrity of game files. Once the process is over, restart Steam and then launch the game.
Add the game as an exclusion –
Another fix for this particular issue is to add the game as an exclusion on your anti-virus. While certainly great, anti-virus software can flag a harmless file as a threat, resulting in issues like this one. Adding the target file as an exclusion can help with dealing with this. Now, if you are using Windows Defender, we suggest you follow the instructions below if you don’t know how to add the game as an exclusion:
- Open Windows Settings and select Privacy & Security > Windows Security > Virus & Threat Protection.
- In the new window, scroll down and click on Manage settings under Virus & Threat Protection Settings.
- You will need to scroll down once again and click on Add or Remove Exclusions right under Exclusions.
- After the new window opens, click on the Add an Exclusion button. Now, browse and add Poppy Playtime to the list. You can now close the window and launch the game.
Additionally, players can also try adding Poppy Playtime as an exclusion in the anti-virus and then verifying the game files.
Disable Microsoft Defender –
If the previous method doesn’t help, we recommend that you just disable Microsoft Defender and any anti-virus you are using. Don’t worry, you can re-enable it later after the issue is fixed. Now, in order to disable Defender, just follow the first two steps mentioned in the previous workaround. Next, you will have real-time protection in the next window. Disable it and then start the game.
Update –
Some players had success dealing with this issue by simply updating the game. The developers released a patch for Chapter 3 on February 9, 2024, which fixed a lot of issues and added some gameplay changes. So, if you haven’t downloaded the patch, go ahead and do so.
Well, that’s all the workarounds we have for this right now. Additionally, take a quick look here, if you want to know whether the game has an FOV slider or not. And for more guides like this, keep following DigiStatement. Also read: Poppy Playtime Chapter 2 Global Shader Library Missing Error: Fixes & Workarounds
