VRC Fails to launch Steam gameoverlay UI in desktop, preventing purchase of VRChat Plus

Help!
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VRC_OverlayFailureToLaunch
VRC_OverlayFailureToLaunch1264×487 43.1 KB

Hello! Was trying to buy VRC+ today, only to find that the steam overlay does not work in VRC. Seeing as the only way to pay for plus is through the overlay, this seems to be a big problem. After searching end to end, finding only dead ended threads with random speculation and generic useless “tips” that do nothing to identify the problem, I started digging today on my own system to see what’s happening.

In the screenshot I’ve thrown together here, you’ll see that in Gunfire (random game), it launches the overlay program without issue, and it is loaded before the game can get even get to the main menu. You’ll also see next to that with VRC, after sitting idle for 5 minutes at the time of the screenshot, it has failed to request the overlay be launched at all.

I dug around in the steam launcher files, and tried to force the gameoverlay executable to launch manually, but was greeted with an error that read as follows: “GameOverlay exiting due to missing PID argument”

This seems like something was forgotten in the latest build, as VRC is not asking for the overlay to load with the program.

Troubleshooting steps I’ve tried so far:

  1. Uninstall and reinstall of both Steam, and VRC. No change. VRC remains the only program not opening the overlay.
  2. Disabling overlay in global steam settings as well as specifically for VRC then launching + closing VRC, re-enabling overlay then launching + closing VRC. No change. VRC remains the only program not opening the overlay.
  3. Deleting any and all gameoverlay related files within the steam folder, allowing the launcher to repair itself with new file downloads. No change. VRC remains the only program not opening the overlay.
  4. Running both steam + VRC in forced administrator privileges. No change. VRC remains the only program not opening the overlay.

Asking around within the discord server, I found that others have been having this same issue, so this loosely confirms that this is a problem with VRC itself, and not end user systems.

System specifications (if it has any bearing to aid with helping diagnose what’s going):
CPU: 11700k i7
RAM: 32GB DDR4
GPU: 3080ti
Storage (both Steam and VRC): 2TB SATA SSD

Help me help you: I just want to throw money at you!

2

Hello, we’ve pushed out a potential fix for the issue you are experiencing. Please try restarting Steam, and let us know if the problem continues!

1 Like
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Issue resolved, gameoverlay is now requested and launched inside of VRC.

Thanks for the quick help, already on VRC+ now. :ok_hand:

4

I am having the EXACT same issue and have tried everything suggested yet nothing works.

5

I just started having this issue recently as well, again! It was last week I think it started being an issue again, I can no longer gift VRC+ to my friends, nor can I get VRC to pull up the overlay.

I think they broke something in the most recent public (non beta) update.

1 Like
6

Have you maybe tried to start VRChat on desktop without starting VR, i usually had better luck doing so to buy stuff with the steam overlay

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That doesn’t work either. As described in the original post no matter how it’s opened, the issue seems to be that the Steam overlay is never initialized.

8

This does not work. Currently this is broken due to a recent update breaking the steam overlay. They’ll have to fix it again, otherwise this is a moot argument.

For reference, I tried in desktop last night, does not work. I also tried in VR last night, it does not work.

9

I am having the exact same issue now. Can’t buy VRC+

10

I have been having this issue for a few months now, I cant access the ingame overlay even with it enabled, in the headset or desktop mode. It makes it impossible to purchase VRC+ for myself or friends.