Paradox Launcher won't stop even though game already ended

[Frodo821]

I've doubted why Steam shows I'm playing Stellaris even if I already exit the game, but today eventually I found the answer. The reason is honestly simple, "game didn't quit."

I typed the command 'tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq Stellaris*"' but the result was "INFO: No task are running which match the specified criteria." so I've thought the problem is bug of Steam client. But I thought carefully, Steam doesn't start Stellaris directly, it runs Paradox Launcher. Therefore, I performed the command 'tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq Paradox Launcher*".' And I found the launcher task was running even when Stellaris quits.

 

[AndrewT]

I have seen that with the new launcher, but only when the game failed to run. Not when the game has been properly quit. Hard to see why it is happening to you that way.

What antivirus app do you use?

 

[Frodo821]

Merely do I use windows defender on my PC.

And, my problem is not failed to running the game but just the game not properly quit.

 

[AndrewT]

Merely do I use windows defender on my PC.

And, my problem is not failed to running the game but just the game not properly quit.

I understand that; the question is why does it happen for you and not me or others?

What if you run the game from the Paradox client instead of Steam?

Do you have any other game that uses that same launcher: Imperator Rome, Planetfall, Prison Architect, EU4 ?

 

[Frodo821]

Do you have any other game that uses that same launcher: Imperator Rome, Planetfall, Prison Architect, EU4 ?

Sadly, I have none of them. Paradox games which I have are HoI4, Cities: Skylines, and Stellaris.

What if you run the game from the Paradox client instead of Steam?

What is Paradox client and how can I use that?

 

[AndrewT]

What is Paradox client and how can I use that?

https://play.paradoxplaza.com/

Install that, log into it with your Paradox account. Hit GAMES-REFRESH and you should see Stella in there, try installing and playing it. Good luck!

 

[Blutvogt]

I have exact the same problem. The Game won't close in my steam archive. It doesn't happens closing CK3. Didn't encounter this problem in the past.

And no task in the task manager as well.

The only solution is exiting steam and forcing the game process to stop through steam.

 

[AndrewT]

What launcher version do you see? Current is 2020.15

If you run the game from stellaris.exe directly instead of from the launcher, does this still happen?

 

[Blutvogt]

Launcher version is 2020.15

If i start the game direct from the directory, the game close immediate without any problem.

Starting the launcher through steam and closing again (no game start) makes no problem.

 

[AndrewT]

If i start the game direct from the directory, the game close immediate without any problem.

Starting the launcher through steam and closing again (no game start) makes no problem.

What should happen is when you run the game from our launcher, the launcher itself terminates. I've seen cases where that didn't happen but not recently. Are you seeing any of these processes still in Task Manager?

dowser.exe
bootstrapper-v2.exe
paradox launcher.exe
cefprocess.exe
stellaris.exe

 

[Blutvogt]

dowser.exe
bootstrapper-v2.exe
paradox launcher.exe
cefprocess.exe
stellaris.exe

none of this processes are active after quitting the game. The best option for me is right now, to start the game from the directory.

 

[AndrewT]

Then my guess is you actually have a Steam problem. Please do a full **clean** re-install of Steam and game:

- move any valued save games elsewhere, and user_empire_designs.txt from /Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/ if you have made any custom empires or races.
- "uninstall" in Steam-Stellaris
- exit the Steam app completely
- manually delete both the Steam/SteamApps/common/Stellaris AND Documents/Paradox/Stellaris folders
- delete everything in the Steam folder EXCEPT steam.exe and the SteamApps folder
- run steam.exe to rebuild all that
- re-install game in Steam, run a Steam Verify when done.
- add stellaris.exe to the exceptions list of your antivirus app; ESPECIALLY if you have Windows Defender, add it to the Ransomware "Apps Allowed Through" list.
- start the game with no mods active and test

 

[atomanti]

Ran into a similar problem. After exiting the game, Steam says it is still running. I have to force close Steam to resolve it.
HOWEVER, contrary to what is written above, I get the issue also if I launch stellaris.exe directly, and also if I just launch and then close the launcher. I'm wondering if there is an intermediate step before I nuke my steam. Don't really want to mess things up, I have a million games, saves, mods, settings etc.

 

[AndrewT]

The process I gave above will not affect your other games, as it does not delete the SteamApps folder.