No game is ever-released in a complete bug-free state, and Civilization VI is no exception. That said, we've not come across any game-breaking issues in our playing — it's actually pretty good on the stability front — but we have been exposed to reports, and we'll bundle a few that appear to be affecting a handful of players, just in case you've come across them yourselves.
Before looking at common issues and potentially opening up security channels, be sure to double and tripe check your PC hits or exceeds the minimum specifications required to run Civilization VI.
Windows Defender
It has been widely reported that Microsoft's own security suite has been causing Civilization VI to crash, take an age to start-up or lock up the PC altogether. Luckily, new definitions have since been released that should be downloaded and applied to avoid this issue. If you use Windows Defender and experience problems running Civ VI, check for updates.
Missing DLL files
It appears that on installing Civilization VI, some files have gone for a wonder. This is caused by Visual C++ Redistribute from Microsoft, which will require the uninstall of all past versions of the software and the re-install of the most recent release.
Audio gone wrong
If you seem to have trouble enjoying the game due to audio issues, lowering the quality of sound output in Windows has been reported (via PlanarFreak) to solve everything.
Unable to load
If you're simply unable to load Civilization VI, try some of the following:
- Check for driver updates
- Update Windows
- Verify game files with Steam
- Disable security suites or add exceptions (via Reddit)
Can't disable unit cycling!
This is an annoying game feature that cycles units that have moves to be used up before your turn is out. While Civilization VI doesn't offer a way to change this in the menu system, it is possible to do so by editing the options.txt document.
- Head to Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization VI/User.
- Open Options.txt in your favorite text editor.
- Find ";Does the selection auto cycle to the next available unit? (0 = no, 1 = yes) AutoUnitCycle 1".
- Change 1 to 0.
- Save and close the file.
Still having trouble?
Having a bad time when trying to play Civilization VI? Sound off in the comments!