Nothing is more frustrating than eagerly awaiting the installation of a new game, only to be stuck at installing. Many players of Sid Meier’s Civilization VII have encountered an issue where the game’s download, when completed, gets stuck on installing, preventing them from diving into the game. This turn-based strategy has seen its full release and so far, things have not been great! So, if you’re facing this issue, don’t worry! Keep reading this guide till the end to find out if there is a fix yet for this error in the game.
The latest installment of Sid Meier’s Civilization series, the VII edition, has given some problems during the installation process. More specifically, players are reporting an issue where the installation gets stuck at 100%, leaving them unable to launch the game. While it may seem like the installation is complete, something is preventing it from finalizing. Anyway, here are some potential fixes and workarounds to get you back to building your empire.
Sid Meier’s Civilization VII Stuck on Installing Error: Is there any fix yet
The developers have released a hotfix addressing various bugs and performance issues, but unfortunately, the installation stuck at 100% hasn’t been explicitly mentioned in the patch notes. For now, the only available solutions come from player-suggested fixes and other potential workarounds that might help you get past this frustrating hurdle. So, here are those effective workarounds for you to try:
Enough Storage?
First of all, before troubleshooting further, make sure you have enough free space on the drive where you’re installing Civilization VII. Lack of storage can prevent the game from downloading or installing properly. If needed, clear up space by deleting unnecessary files or moving data to another drive, then try the installation again.
Wait it out
If the game is stuck at 100%, don’t panic—Steam often marks a game as fully downloaded while it’s still decompressing and verifying files in the background. This process can take time, especially for larger games. Keep in mind that this process of decompressing and verifying for this game in particular can even take a couple of hours! So if nothing seems broken, give it some time and be patient. The workaround here is to wait it out—grab a snack, watch some YouTube, and let Steam do its thing. If it still seems stuck after a long while, try the other workarounds mentioned below.
Reboot
Next up, try rebooting your PC and then launch Civilization VII directly from the desktop shortcut instead of through the Steam client. Some players have found that this method prevents crashes and allows them to continue their game without issues. However, if you want to launch the game via Steam, then launch it with admin rights. Just right-click on Steam’s executable file and select the Run as Admin option.
Background App
If restarting the whole reboot does not fix the issue, try force-closing Steam through Task Manager and then relaunching it. Sometimes, Steam may get stuck or unresponsive, preventing the download from progressing. Additionally, check for background applications that might be consuming too much memory or system resources, such as web browsers, game launchers, or heavy-duty programs. Closing unnecessary apps can free up performance and speed up the installation process.
Internet
Try disconnecting from the internet. Some players suspect the issue is related to the game struggling to connect to 2K’s servers, possibly due to high traffic. To test this, put Steam in offline mode and unplug your Ethernet cable (or disable Wi-Fi). Many have reported that doing this allows the game to run smoothly without crashes, suggesting the problem may be tied to online authentication or server overload.
Ipv6 and VPN
Another potential fix is to disable IPv6 on your network adapter, as some players have reported success with this method—though the exact reason remains unclear. Alternatively, using a VPN or switching to a mobile hotspot can also help, possibly by bypassing connection issues with 2K’s servers. If you’re facing crashes or freezes, it’s worth trying these network-related workarounds.
AMD users
If you’re using an AMD CPU and experiencing random crashes—whether during startup, after the intro video, or at the main menu—updating your AMD chipset and CPU drivers might be the fix. Installing the latest AMD Adrenalin software has resolved the issue for some players, suggesting that these crashes could be driver-related. You can download it via AMD’s official site.
BIOS fix
The error may be due to AVX2 CPU instructions being disabled in your BIOS settings. The game requires AVX2 support, which all newer Intel CPUs have, but some systems may have it turned off by default. To fix this, check if your CPU supports AVX2 and enable it in your BIOS settings. You might have to look online for the exact steps to turn on AVX2 on the motherboard you use.
Steam cache
For this fix, go to your Steam/steamapps/download folder and delete all files inside. After this, you will be able to stop the game download/installation that’s stuck. Next, clear your Steam Download Cache by going to Steam Settings > Downloads > Clear Download Cache. Finally, restart Steam and your PC, then try downloading the game again. This method has worked for some players to resolve installation issues.
Reinstall
Finally, make sure that you are installing the game on an internal SSD rather than an external one. Some players have reported issues when downloading to an external SSD, especially if it’s formatted as ExFAT. To fix this, pause and uninstall the game, then redownload it to your local D: drive or another internal storage device. This method has worked for multiple users and may help avoid installation problems.
Updates
Always check for updates, as the developers have promised ongoing support for the community. While some issues may not have an official fix yet, it is possible that the developers will indeed release another update to fix the issue for good.
For now, those are all the possible workarounds that you can try out to fix the installation errors in Sid Meier’s Civilization VII. That is all we have to share but keep visiting DigiStatement for more gaming content like this. You can also click here to find out how to fix the crashing issues in Sid Meier’s Civilization VII.
