Hi there,

I guess that this is a usual problem, but I need the non usual solution. Short description of the problem:

1. I was just started playing (a bit) Endless Space 2 on my old laptop wihtout any problems.

2. I've got a new laptop. Windows + Steam are up and running. Other games are running properly. Endless Space 2 cannot load - just when the bar starts to fill, the game crashes and I see my desktop.

3. I tried the following (any and all of them didn't solve the problem):

a. Ran the program as an admin.

b. Changed the attribute of Document to read/write - didn't work (I had to change it in the command prompt. For some reason I was not able to change it by a right-clikc, as the "read-only" mark remains there even after I try to uncheck it and apply and recheck that the change was saved. But DOS command attrib shows that it is not Read only any longer).

c. I disabled my antivirus.

d. I tried to verify the integrity of the installed game.

e. I tried to uninstall and re-install (and also check again the integrity of the installed game, and the uninstall and re-install, just for fun).

f. I made sure that no other program runs in the background before I launch the game. 

g. I updated all drivers, including graphic driver of my laptop (Lenov IdeaPad S145, I5 10th generation, 8G RAM, Intel graphic card).

h. I tried to apply Nvidia's graphic card solution into Intel's graphic card solution, by adding the game, as well as Steam, to the "high performance" list of the App Preferences (Setting --> Display --> Graphic Settings). For some reason, Steam insists on "System Default" configuration, but the game should enjoy "High Performance" mode.

i. I tried to upgrade my DirectX (is it still relevant? - I'm too old). Then I realized that I can only check its version (12). Then I tried to update the only thing that the windows automatic update recommended, and restart the computer.

j. I tried climbing the walls...

I attach 2 files that might be relevant for the debug.

MAYDAY MAYDAY...

output_log.txtDiagnostics - 2020'04'26 @2355'53''.html

Then I don't know. It seems to me that the problem with your computer is with memory (not RAM). Also, as an option, look at the drivers and the other one on DirectX (although, the steam should put it itself).

Could you check out, what kind of Windows 10 version you make use of? To do so, right mouse click on start symbol on desktop, choose search and enter winver. Execute. Some people seem to have trouble, as long as Windows doesn't update correctly.

Some more ideas, what you didn't seem to check out, yet:

1) run Steam.exe - admin rights included

2) delete ES 2 registry file and try to start game

3) Go to your Steam Library, right click the name of the game, select Properties, click "Set Launch Options" in the "General" tab, and enter "-compat". Click "OK", close the window and launch the game

4) Go to your Steam Library, right click the name of the game, select Properties, click "Set Launch Options" in the "General" tab, and enter "-novideo". Click "OK", close the window and launch the game

5) download and install "K-Lite Codeq Pack Mega" and try to restart game

The final warning was:
The database of type 'Amplitude.Unity.Localization.LocalizationDatatableElement' has overriden an element because its key name '%GroundBattleRemainsStandby' was already registered for the same revision number #1.
What language are you playing the game in? There might be an error with your localization if it isn't English.

Thank you all for your willing to assist and for all the great suggestions!

Problem was resolved. It seems to be the OpenSSL bugs that "cause a crash or bad SHA (Secure Hash Algorithm) values on processors with the SHA extensions, such as the recently released 10th Generation processor", so the Ice Lake patch worked for me, as dark22 suggested.