It will show a loading screen, then turns black, and exits back to Windows. It doesn't matter if I start it directly or via Galaxy. The Windows log show nothing. When starting from the command prompt there is no message or return code. Can someone help me?

Which version of Windows are you using?
Do you have older DirectX installed?
Does it disappear from the Task Manager as well or does it sit in the background?

I am using Windows 10, nVidia graphics card, older libraries installed and the game works fine (video and gameplay). Downloaded and installed to check after reading your post.

(from what I've heard) Galaxy installations sometimes don't install dependencies. Install the offline installer and try again.

Hi, thank you for your answers!

I am running Windows10 x64 with DirectX12. The game does not stay running but also disappears from the Task Manager. I have also tried installing the game with the off-line setup, but that gives the same results.
Setting compatibility mode on main.exe to Windows XP also didn't work. Copying all files to C: also did not work (both tips for the Steam version of the game).

Any other ideas?

Having DX12 does not mean that you have DX9 and older. (see system requirements)
Install it: https://m.majorgeeks.com/files/details/microsoft_directx.html

Also, read the GOG support pages: https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/articles/360016735818-A-Vampyre-Story?product=gog

Well I reinstalled DX9, but unfortunately that didn't help. I also tried dgVoodoo but the game just keeps showing a black screen after the load screen and then exits completely after a second or so.

That's very strange, as dgVoodoo usually works wonders.

If you have an Intel graphics card on board, could you try switching to that one? Are you using more than one monitor? Some old games seem to have a problem with multiple monitors.

Found this on the Steam forums:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdO4ZlPp-_4

Thank you for the link. Unfortunately it did not help. So now I have dusted off my old XP system and play on that machine.

Maybe you must install DirectPlay for it to run, here is how:

Windows-key + R ... appwiz.cpl ... Turn Windows Features On or Off ... click on Legacy Components and activate DirectPlay

Or you can set compatibility mode for all users to Windows XP SP3, run it as administrator, check run in 640x480 screen resolution. All this can be done by right-clicking the shortcut, properties, compatibility.

You could also set your resolution to 1920x1080 in your graphic card control panel. Some games just don't support higher resolutions and will not run. I had that case just recently with Syberia 1. There is of course a workaround for it with dgvoodoo which could also be an option in this case. Here is how this works Steam User Guide

Thank you for your response. I checked the DirectPlay setting, but it was already on. I had also tried dgVoodoo, see previous posts. The thing is that I run quite a few vintgage games from GOG without any problems. However this particular game just won't play.