Sometimes, the issue isn't Windows; it's the game itself. If a power outage or a bad installation corrupted the Denuvo driver file, the game won't know how to launch. Steam has a built-in tool to fix this.
How to fix it:
To understand the fix, it helps to understand the problem. Denuvo is a Digital Rights Management (DRM) system used by developers (in this case, Sports Interactive and SEGA) to prevent piracy. It ensures that the game is legitimate and hasn't been tampered with. football manager 2018 failed to start denuvo driver
FM2018 relies on this system to launch. The "driver" mentioned in the error is a specific file (often named Denuvo64.sys) that handles this security check. If Windows blocks this driver or if the file becomes corrupted, the game assumes something is wrong and refuses to start. Sometimes, the issue isn't Windows; it's the game itself
Here are the three most common causes and how to fix them. To understand the fix, it helps to understand the problem
Right-click fm.exe → Properties → Compatibility → Check Run this program as an administrator → Apply.