PC Game Pass games crash at launch with Exception code: 0xc0000005. Latest in line - Starfield.

Old posts on the exact same issue -

Redfall

Atomic Heart

Scorn and Plague Tale: Requiem too had same issue.

PC Configuration

Lenovo Legion Y740, Model: 81UJ0001US, Intel Core i7-9750H, RTX 2080-MQ, 16GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD, Windows 11 Pro 22H2.

GeForce Game Ready Driver 537.13

Xbox app version 2309.1001.3.0

Gaming Services 13.80.25001.0

Game Install Detail

Installed to D: drive, at D:\Games\XboxGames\Starfield.

~74 GB left in D: drive after installation.

~52 GB left in C: drive after installation.

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\BethesdaSoftworks.ProjectGold_1.7.23.0_x64__{alphanumeric} is a junction to D:\WindowsApps\BethesdaSoftworks.ProjectGold_1.7.23.0_x64__{alphanumeric} and that itself is a junction to D:\Games\XBoxGames\Starfield\Content. (These junctions are created automatically by MS Store / Xbox app, and not done manually by me.)

Issue

I installed the game Starfield from PC Game Pass to my D: drive (~74 GB left in drive after installation). Now whenever I try to launch the game in any way (from desktop shortcut OR clicking play button in xbox app OR by going to the installation folder and clicking the app exe), this happens -

• Starfield title splash-screen appears
  
• At the bottom right of that splash-screen, text appears - "signing in", "syncing data", "launching game".
  
• And then an error message appears saying "Error code: (0xc0000005)
  

This issue is not specific to Starfield. As I mentioned at the top, I have had this same exact issue in other games downloaded from the Xbox PC app before. RedFall, Atomic Heart, Scorn, Plague Tale: Requiem etc. all had same crash. So, I am absolutely sure this is an issue with the Xbox PC app. If you see the thread for RedFall, I had predicted in June 2023 that this will happen in Starfield too; and lo n behold, it did!!

Troubleshooting

1. Made sure that OS, BIOS and graphics drivers are up-to-date.
   
2. Tried running the game as Admin
   
3. Tried running after disabling antivirus (Windows Security) and Firewall.
   
4. Added D:\Games\XBoxGames\Starfield\Content folder to the Windows Security antivirus exclusion lis
   
5. Tried verify and repair option available within Xbox app.
   
6. Clicked "Repair", and "Reset" option in Windows settings page of MS Store, Xbox app and Starfield app.
   
7. Fully uninstalled Xbox app, MS Store app and then reinstalled them.
   
8. Cleared the store cache using “wsreset”.
   
9. Removed and reinstalled Gaming Services. Rebooted device and then reinstalled Starfield from xbox app.
   
10. Did a clean reboot by disabling all non-MS services in msconfig and startup.
    
11. Did DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth and SFC /scannow
    
12. Create a brand new local (non-MS) user in Windows, logged in as that user, logged into MS Store as the same same user that has XGPU subscription.
    

I've carried all the troubleshooting steps listed above and that were mentioned in the RedFall thread. None of these have any effect on the game. At each step, the game still crashes in same way. So please don't suggest me same useless steps to make me run around.

Log from Event Viewer

I checked event viewer, and that shows this in the logs when the game crashes -

Cause Speculation / Educated diagnosis from experience

I am 1000% sure that this issue is caused by the game being installed on D: drive, i.e. a drive which is not windows drive (C

My speculation is - xbox / MS Store / Windows expects the games to be present in C: drive. That's why it creates a junction link from C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\{game's folder} to D:\WindowsApps\{game's folder}. But since the game is 100+ GB, and that amount of space is not actually available in C: drive, some storage or memory access miscalculation / error occurs when I try to run the game.

I can't install these gigantic games on C: as that has only 50 GB free. When MS Store and Xbox both allow installing apps and games to any user-selected drive, it then should not have an issue with that. But looks like it does have an issue with that. This is 1000% built-in bug in Xbox PC app that the team needs to fix. Nothing I do at my end is gooing to fix it. I've reported this numerous times, and the apathy from the xbox team is mind boggling. Why am I paying for the subscription if I can't play the star games?

Screenshot





:)