"The application failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log for more detail."
: Right-click the .exe file, select Properties , go to the Compatibility tab, and check Run this program as an administrator .
Elias let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
: If the local file doesn't work, users have verified that installing the Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Service Pack 1 Redistributable or specific 2008 versions resolves the launcher issue. VC++ 2005 SP1 : Available from Microsoft Support. VC++ 2008 : Available from Microsoft Download Center .
Check the box for Run this program in compatibility mode for .
Try these solutions in order. They have been verified by players on Steam and community forums.
When you launch Prince of Persia (2008) , its launcher doesn't have every single component it needs inside its own folder. Instead, it presents a "manifest" – a detailed list of exact dependencies to the Windows operating system. Windows then reads this list and attempts to build a working environment by pulling the necessary components from its central, controlled store (primarily the WinSxS folder).
If your modern gaming PC only has updated iterations (such as the C++ 2015–2022 redistributables), the system cannot link the launcher's activation context to the required legacy assembly. Windows halts execution immediately, throwing the side-by-side error to prevent a software crash.
If the above steps do not work, repair your system's manifest files which manage these "side-by-side" configurations: Open as Administrator.
Look for an level entry sourced from SideBySide at the exact time you tried to launch the game.
If you have already installed Visual C++ and are still getting the error, the launcher itself might be corrupted.
: In your game installation folder (e.g., SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Prince of Persia ), try running Prince of Persia.exe directly instead of the launcher.
After debugging this issue on three separate Windows 11 machines and two Windows 10 machines, we have verified the following root causes:
