I just received my OpenDev invitation for Steam and installed the game immediately to play. However, the game won't launch whatever I do. I hit Play on Steam and the only thing I see is a black screen with game's cursor that I can move around and nothing else.

I haven't had any issues with other Endless games. I am playing on an MSI gaming laptop with built-in overclock/undervolt options and I have tried launching the games on all modes to see if the game has a problem with my clock speeds (like Forza Horizon 4) or something. The game runs on NVIDIA GPU by default so there is no issue with Intel GPU as well. I couldn't find system requirements on Steam but I think the laptop should meet the recommended system requirements considering it is a strategy game. All my drivers are updated as well. Has anybody experienced a problem like this?

I am having the same problem. Noticed that the game has some kind of html log files located in my documents folder. I can upload them if necessary.

Same problem, trying to run on laptop - first it was black screen, now wont open.

Diagnostics (2020'07'31 @2027'53''731''').html Player.log

Diagnostics (2020'07'31 @1238'34''966''').htmlDiagnostics (2020'07'31 @1251'44''364''').htmlDiagnostics (2020'07'31 @1256'54''719''').htmlDiagnostics (2020'07'31 @1739'09''996''').html 

Player.log

I have same problem. I am trying to open the game for 4 hours but I see only a black screen. 

Diagnostics (2020'08'01 @0238'13''157''').html

Downloaded yesterday, similar problem as op... would start, black screen then windows 7 would pop up that Humankind.exe had stopped working, error details would indicate ntdll.dll was the issue. On about my 10th try and second reinstall it managed once to get to the black screen with a small loading screen with the humankind logo loading bar would get to half then the same ntdll.dll error would pop up... then it went back to simply getting no further than a black screen in any other attempt to start it.

Updated all my service packs in windows today that i was behind in, now the game will always get to the black screen with the small humankind logo with loading bar but still crashes at the half way point of the loading bar with the same ntdll.dll error.

Most recent diagnostics and player log

Diagnostics (2020'08'01 @1419'36''778''').html

Player.log

Edit:- Weirdness insues.

Umm ok, after writing this post, I decided to start the game up again... this time it played the sega and amplitude logos for the first time, then went to the Humankind splash screen art wtih loading bar at the bottom of the screen, then the small humankind logo box and loading bar from other attempts popped up and got to half way and the same 'Humankind.exe has stopped working' ntdll.dll error happened... the diagnostic files (it seemed to make two files for that one start up for somereason) from that particular start up is here.

Diagnostics (2020'08'01 @1437'07''288''').html

Diagnostics (2020'08'01 @1437'48''149''').html

So i have no idea really, the fact once in a while starting the game up goes further and works better than the majority of my attempts is baffling me, if it was and issue my end (stuff not related to the game) you'd thinnk it would be a consistant result every time but it isnt...

Edit 2:- More oddities

Started the game up a few more times in hopeless frustration... similar crash with blackscreen and small humankind logo with loading bar, but i noticed the loading bar was crashing at different points along the loading bar each time, then at about my 5th attempt it again managed to play the sega and amplitude loading videos, got to the splashart loading screen and got to the introduction video, AND then made it to the main menu... yay!

where upon clicking the babylon scenario... it once again crashed with the same error as all the other times.

Diagnostic and player log from this best attempt is bellow.

Diagnostics (2020'08'01 @1454'28''821''').html

Player.log

tried a few more starts and it seems the game for me can get to the main menu every 5-6 tries, all the rest tend to crash pre or just a little after the Sega logo.

I have been unable to even download the OpenDev. Whenever I give Sega permission to send me the code with the synched Steam account I have, I am brought back to the Rewards section and the Opendev box will either have an infinite looping download or it will disappear entirely until I reopen my Rewards section of my account SPECIFICALLY through the Devblog that was posted yesterday. Here is proof that I am getting the Sega prompt before I press accept. 

Edit: I know this is specifically related to the Opendev for Humankind now as I tested out recieving the free Endless Space reward and I was able to download it onto my Steam account with ease.

This morning I have tried to run the game again to see if it runs or not, and then I noticed something. There is a blue/orange light on laptop's power button that becomes blue if it uses Intel GPU and orange if it uses NVIDIA GPU. In my original post I said there is not a problem with GPUs but there might be a problem with them. Firstly, I went to check NVIDIA Control Panel and saw there was not an entry for Humankind.exe. I added it and it showed that it is running with Intel GPU by default (although I am sure I saw my light became orange before but maybe that was because of some other application.) and then I changed it to use NVIDIA. I also started the game after a restart so that there is no other app running to mess with GPU light on my laptop. When I hit Play on Steam, the game opens up using NVIDIA GPU but it switches to Intel GPU after 2-3 seconds even though it shouldn't be able to switch. I don't know if other users also try to play the game with Intel/NVIDIA GPU combo on a laptop but could it be a problem with laptops using Intel GPU? There are actually some other games that doesn't run because of this Intel GPU issue on laptops (Thunder Wolves, Rome: Total War, The Deadly Tower of Monsters).

Edit: Run it again. Started with NVIDIA (2-3 seconds), switched to Intel (10-15 seconds), switched to NVIDIA (2-3 seconds), switched to Intel (for 4-5 minutes until I click on the screen), then I click on the screen, the game crashes and light switches to NVIDIA until I close the error screen. Diagnostics (2020'08'01 @0828'28''680''').html

I have similar problem. When I hit play, it just pops a black screen and then disappear. 

Player.log

I don't have Diagnostics file.

Same for me. only have Player.log but don't have Diagnostics file and also the file size when downloading is only 5.1 GB instead of 11 GB.

Player.log