Game Is Locked in Running mode
I have over 5000 hours in the game, and I have never had an issue like this before. In the Steam Launcher the game is listed as being in "running" mode.
A week or so ago I was Playing Space Engineers, the game did not shut down. I tried force closing Steam, when it came back up Space engineers was still running. I shut down my computer. When I restarted, Space Engineers was still running. I tried deleting all temp files on Space Engineers, it did not work. I tried verifying all Files. stated all files were verified. I tried updating Steam. Says all files are up to date. I forced Steam into an offline mode, started up Space engineers offline, and reconnected to online, Still could not shut down Space Engineers. Forced Steam into an offline mode, and deleted Space Engineers. Tried reloading the game, Download failed in the last 10% of loading stating files were in use.
Finally I ended up having to format my hard drive as I could not fully uninstall steam as it kept saying that "files were being used by another program". Scouring through my hard drive I found that the file for space engineers was still there.... Formatting commenced.
After reinstalling Steam and reinstalling space engineers, however the game would not run. The first time I tried to start the game, it stated something about cloud Status could not be updated. I chose the play anyway option, but the Steam game page went back to the "Play" game button. Every time I click on "play" it just drops back to the "play" game button. I resynced the cloud saves, and tried again, still would not open. Gave up for the night and shut my whole system down. Next day I logged back into Steam, and Steam has Space Engineers listed as running again. Clicking on stop again did nothing.
I have the same bug
Hello Andrew,
Thank you for reaching out and for providing such a thorough description along with the logs.
We can understand how frustrating this must be, especially after investing so many hours into Space Engineers.
Based on the logs, the main cause appears to be a conflict with Steam Cloud files, combined with a lingering "running" state. If the game didn’t shut down properly, Steam may have continued to treat it as still running. Even after uninstalling the game and formatting your drive, this ghost state may have been synced back via Steam Cloud.
Additionally, the logs show multiple network interruptions, which likely interfered with proper Steam Cloud synchronization. As a result, some configuration files may have become corrupted, causing a loop where Steam has difficulty launching the game correctly.
Here are a few steps that may help resolve the issue:
- Disable Steam Cloud for Space Engineers
In your Steam Library, right-click Space Engineers.
Go to Properties → General.
Uncheck "Keep game saves in the Steam Cloud for Space Engineers".
Close Steam completely.
- Remove Local Game Data
Navigate to:
C:\Users\[YourUserName]\AppData\Roaming\SpaceEngineers
and
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\SpaceEngineers (if applicable).
Delete or move all files and folders to a backup location.
- Clear Steam Cache
In Steam, click Steam → Settings → Downloads → Clear Download Cache.
Restart Steam afterward.
- Verify or Reinstall Space Engineers
If already installed, right-click the game in Steam → Properties → Installed Files → Verify integrity of game files.
If not yet reinstalled, install the game fresh after clearing all old files.
- Test the Game Offline First
Try launching the game with Steam in Offline Mode to ensure it starts properly without syncing cloud data.
- Re-enable Steam Cloud (Optional)
Once everything works offline, you can re-enable Steam Cloud if you'd like.
When prompted, choose "Upload local files" to prevent pulling back any old corrupted files.
If the issue persists even after these steps, please let us know.
Kind Regards,
Keen Software House: QA Department
Hello Andrew,
Thank you for reaching out and for providing such a thorough description along with the logs.
We can understand how frustrating this must be, especially after investing so many hours into Space Engineers.
Based on the logs, the main cause appears to be a conflict with Steam Cloud files, combined with a lingering "running" state. If the game didn’t shut down properly, Steam may have continued to treat it as still running. Even after uninstalling the game and formatting your drive, this ghost state may have been synced back via Steam Cloud.
Additionally, the logs show multiple network interruptions, which likely interfered with proper Steam Cloud synchronization. As a result, some configuration files may have become corrupted, causing a loop where Steam has difficulty launching the game correctly.
Here are a few steps that may help resolve the issue:
- Disable Steam Cloud for Space Engineers
In your Steam Library, right-click Space Engineers.
Go to Properties → General.
Uncheck "Keep game saves in the Steam Cloud for Space Engineers".
Close Steam completely.
- Remove Local Game Data
Navigate to:
C:\Users\[YourUserName]\AppData\Roaming\SpaceEngineers
and
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\SpaceEngineers (if applicable).
Delete or move all files and folders to a backup location.
- Clear Steam Cache
In Steam, click Steam → Settings → Downloads → Clear Download Cache.
Restart Steam afterward.
- Verify or Reinstall Space Engineers
If already installed, right-click the game in Steam → Properties → Installed Files → Verify integrity of game files.
If not yet reinstalled, install the game fresh after clearing all old files.
- Test the Game Offline First
Try launching the game with Steam in Offline Mode to ensure it starts properly without syncing cloud data.
- Re-enable Steam Cloud (Optional)
Once everything works offline, you can re-enable Steam Cloud if you'd like.
When prompted, choose "Upload local files" to prevent pulling back any old corrupted files.
If the issue persists even after these steps, please let us know.
Kind Regards,
Keen Software House: QA Department
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