Blank Black Screen on Startup

Upon launching the game I get an empty black screen with the loading screen sounds appearing shortly after. Waiting doesn't change anything. The client has launched fine for three years, until just this week, shortly after I installed it on steam and linked my account. Now neither version will work and I've tried most of the things that have been recommending in similar threads, including a reinstall.
Also have updated drivers and rolled back drivers.

I have exactly the same problem. Excluded the PoE folder from antivirus in case that was the problem, unfortunately problem is still there.

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1839699

Try this.

Thank you for the quick reply which solved my problem which was :

directx_version=auto
to
directx_version=11 (or 9 if you want to use Dx9)

Changing directx to 11 worked, thanks for that.