This occurs even when Steam is clearly running. The error stems from broken communication between the game and the Steam client.
The “Failed to initialize Steam” error usually appears when launching Shadow of the Tomb Raider from a shortcut, external launcher (like Vortex or Nexus Mod Manager), or directly from the game folder. The game expects Steam to be running and properly connected to your account with the correct permissions. shadow of the tomb raider failed to initialize steam fixed
If you have customized launch options in Steam (e.g., -dx12 , -high , or -windowed ), they can sometimes interfere with the initialization API. Shadow of the Tomb Raider: "Failed to Initialize