I purchased the game a year ago and have had this issue from day one.
I have sent it to support several times, but no one seems to be able to help.
When I try to start the game in Steam, it crashes, EVERY time. I have to hit the PLAY button sometimes 60 or 70 times before it starts.
It goes to the screen where I can choose New Game, Load, Options, etc.
After I make my selection, and it goes to the loading screen that is where the problem is.
Once the game is running, it almost never has any issues at all.
But, there are times when I can't play for several days!
Very frustrating!