Based on what has worked for other players, please try the following -

• Ensure you have appropriate Anti-Virus and Firewall exceptions in place for Darktide
• Check that your Anti-Virus software is up to date

If these don’t do the trick, please try disabling your Anti-Virus software.

Let me know how it goes!

The launcher ensures all the components so you can’t run the exe directly

1. Run steam as an administrator
2. Disable your anti-virus as a test
3. Delete teh appdata folder for darktide as outlined here