How to Fix South of Midnight Not Launching/Black Screen

Outdated or faulty graphics drivers are a frequent cause of black screen andlaunch issues, especially with new games like South of Midnight. Ensureyou have the latest "Game Ready" drivers installed for your NVIDIA orAMD graphics card.

• For NVIDIA: Visit the official NVIDIA drivers page, select your GPU model and operating system, and download the latest driver.
• For AMD: Go to the official AMD support and drivers page, select your product, and download the most recent recommended driver.

After downloading, follow the on-screen instructions to install the new drivers and then try launching South of Midnight again.

2. Rename a Game File (Workaround):

If updating your drivers doesn't resolve the issue, this manual workaround has helped some players.

• Locate the Game's Installation Folder:
  • Default Steam Path: "C:\Program Files(x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\SouthOfMidnight\Engine\Plugins\Runtime\NvidiaStreamline\Binaries\ThirdParty\Win64"
  • If Installed Elsewhere: Open Steam, right-click on "South of Midnight" in your Library, go to Properties > Installed Files > Browse. This will open the exact folder where the game is installed on your system.
• Find sl.pcl.dll: Inside the folder path mentioned above (the Win64 subfolder within the NvidiaStreamline\Binaries\ThirdParty directory), look for a file named sl.pcl.dll.
• Rename the File: Right-click on sl.pcl.dll and rename it to something like sl.pcl.bad or sl.pcl.old.
• Launch the Game: After renaming the file, try launching South of Midnight to see if the issue persists.

3. Launch Directly from the Executable:

If launching the game through the Steam client results in a black screenor crash, try launching it directly from its installation folder:

• Navigate to the Game's Executable: Follow this path in File Explorer: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\SouthOfMidnight\Midnight\Binaries\Win64".
• Find SouthOfMidnight.exe: In this folder, locate the application file named SouthOfMidnight.exe.
• Double-Click to Launch: Double-click on SouthOfMidnight.exe to launch the game directly.

Launching the game this way bypasses the Steam client. While this might allow you to play, be aware that Steam won't track your playtime, achievementswon't sync, and Discord might not recognize you as being in-game. Thisis primarily a troubleshooting step to see if the Steam client is thesource of the problem.

4. Verify Integrity of Game Files:

Steam has a built-in tool to check for and repair any missing or corrupted game files, which can often cause launch issues.

• Open Steam.
• Go to your Library.
• Right-click on "South of Midnight".
• Select Properties.
• Go to the Installed Files tab.
• Click on "Verify integrity of game files...".

Steam will then scan your game files and automatically download any that aremissing or corrupted. Once the process is complete, try launching thegame again.

5. Reinstall on SSD (Last Resort):

If none of the above steps work, consider reinstalling South of Midnight on a faster storage drive, preferably a Solid State Drive (SSD). SSDs offer significantly faster read and write speeds compared to traditional Hard Disk Drives (HDDs),1 which can reduce load times and improve overall system stability,potentially resolving boot-up issues for some players. This is a moretime-consuming solution but has been effective for some usersexperiencing persistent black screen or launch problems.

By working through these troubleshooting steps, you should hopefully beable to identify the cause of South of Midnight's launch issues on yoursystem and get the game running smoothly so you can finally experienceHazel's haunting journey. Remember to keep your game and drivers updated for the best possible experience.