Civilization VI: How to Fix Loading Screen Freezing

Loading Screen Freezing – Civilization VI

Last week saw the release of Civilization VI, granting players the ability to expand their chosen empire, smite their enemies, and become the most cultured civilization to ever grace the Earth. Unfortunately, there appears to be a bug that is stopping players from being able to start their quest through the ages.

For whatever reason, Civilization VI and specifically Windows 10’s Windows Defender anti-virus software don’t automatically just work with one another. Some players are seeing a lot of the loading screen, with it either freezing, not loading completely, or just constantly trying to load the game to no avail.

To get around this, you’ll have to add an exclusion for Civilization VI in Windows Defender. It’s quite simple, and we’re here to talk you through it.

First, go to the Start menu and then head to Settings (the little cog just above the power icon). From here, select Update & Security and then choose the Windows Defender option.

In this menu, you want to scroll down until you find the Exclusions header, and click Add an Exclusion just below it. Select Exclude a Folder, and then simply select the whole Civilization VI installation folder.

This is likely going to look something like this:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\ Sid Meier’s Civilization VI

Once you’ve found this folder, simply confirm your selection and it should be added to the exclusion list for Windows Defender. If you’re still having issues and happen to be using another anti-virus program instead or as well as Windows Defender, you’ll need to make a similar exclusion in this too.

Alternatively, you can just disable your anti-virus software while playing Civilization VI, though we’d advise against doing this if it can be avoided.

With a bit of luck, you should be able to conquer the world with your civilization in peace. For more tips, tricks, and guides for Civilization VI, be sure to check our ever-expanding wiki guide.