Sleeping Dogs shows Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Error

Question

this happens to Sleeping Dogs, not Definitive Edition. I like to play the old version because it's lightweight, I can save my disk space.

I completed the game with no problem, but suddenly now, the game shows this error each time I start the game after a few minutes.

this application has requested the runtime to terminate it in an unusual way

If I ignore the error, I can continue to play my game, if I press Ok, the game crashes.

I don't like the error message so I google the error, first I think the problem may cause by microsoft visual c++ redistributable version conflict, thus I just uninstall all microsoft visual c++ redistributable versions available on my PC and install the latest microsoft visual c++ redistributable, but the problem still persist. So I know this must be the bad code of the game.

How can I fix it?

Answer 1

Simply block hkship.exe in your firewall, and that will stop the C++ error while allowing you to still be connected to the internet. A box will pop up once informing you that you're not connected to the social club, after that it's smooth sailing.

Answer 2

Obviously this is not your PC fault, the game purposely show this message, a DRM (Digital rights management) method I guess. Other players have this problem too.

There are 2 easy methods to fix this:

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Method 1: Ignore the message.

You are on the Error message window and your game has been switch out of full-screen mode.

Step 1: Alt+Tab to switch back to the game window.

Step 2: Alt+Enter to switch back to full-screen mode for your game.

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Method 2: Disable internet connection.

Step 1: Just disable internet connection while playing this game. When start the game, you should see this message

Click ok and enjoy the game.