Starcraft 2 Preparing Game Data [OFFICIAL]

Windows’ Fullscreen Optimizations can interfere with how StarCraft 2 writes its shader cache.

Restart the Battle.net launcher and try launching the game again.

When StarCraft II launches, it verifies its core engine files against the Blizzard servers and your local drive. The process stalls if: starcraft 2 preparing game data

Open your antivirus software (e.g., Windows Defender, Avast, Bitdefender). Find the , Exclusions , or Whitelisting menu. Add the path to your Battle.net launcher ( Battle.net.exe ).

SC2 replays ( .SC2Replay ) are not raw logs—they record player actions and game state changes. To extract structured data: The process stalls if: Open your antivirus software (e

to extract 14 specific feature types (like camera switching and control group updates) from different 18-second time "windows" of a game to predict a player's skill level. TRACE: Tracing Strategic Divergence

If all else fails, your CASC archive is irreparably corrupted. A standard "Scan and Repair" from Battle.net will just loop. You need a clean slate. SC2 replays (

StarCraft II saves variable data and configuration settings in your Windows Documents folder. If Microsoft OneDrive is actively syncing this folder to the cloud, it locks the files, preventing StarCraft II from reading them.

Look at your Windows taskbar (bottom right corner) and click the (cloud shape). Click the Gear Icon (Settings). Go to the Account or Backup tab and select Manage Backup . Toggle Off the backup syncing for the Documents folder.

If the Battle.net launcher does not have read/write permissions to the StarCraft 2 folder or the ProgramData folder, the "Preparing" process will hang. This commonly happens if you installed StarCraft 2 to C:\Program Files (x86) and are running Battle.net as a standard user (not administrator).

Click the in the top-left corner and select Settings . Choose Game Settings from the left-hand menu.