A new update rolls out, and with it, so do a million new bugs to contend with. If you are coming up against the message App Not Released while trying to launch MW3, there are a few things you can try to do to fix it.
Remove your free trial
For some reason, a remaining free trial of the game is causing a few instances of MW3 to display the App Not Released error. To delete this, follow these steps.
- Completely close Steam.
- Next, you need to open Steam as an administrator. This can be done by right-clicking the game’s icon and selecting “Run as administrator.”
- Open up the MW3 game page and locate properties on the top right.
- In the DLC tab, unselect the Free Trial option.
- Again, follow the steps for closing and reopening Steam as an administrator.
- Open properties and verify the integrity of the files. This should locate the issues, remove the free trial, and fix the App Not Released bug for MW3.
Clear your download cache
Sometimes, your Steam download cache can cause issues with the MW3 game launching. Simply navigate to settings in Steam, head to the Downloads tab, and select ‘Clear Cache.’ This should clean up your downloads folder and hopefully sort the App Not Released bug for MW3.
Reset your PC to fix the App Not Released MW3 error
If these two previous solutions do not fix your issue, you should try a simple PC reset. It may seem like an obvious solution, but sometimes, the most obvious ones are the best.
What is the cause of the bug?
This common error usually shows up when a game is pre-loaded and isn’t actually available to play yet. If you have pre-loaded a game before release so you can play it the moment it is available, this message is a placeholder. However, MW3 has been out for quite a while now. The App Not Released error for MW3 is showing due to an issue with the newest update released for the game. Usually, when these things happen, Activision will spot them immediately and sort them. Why they didn’t spot it before is anyone’s guess.
