Re: [PC] Mass Effect 3 Won't Launch

@holger1405 

A big Thank You for your support! 🙂

The advise in post #13 fixed the issue for me.

I'm glad I found this thread as I experienced the same symptoms as described by @DeathXMetal92 in the first post; Mass Effect 3 refused to launch after the latest Windows10 update. The game worked like a charm before the update, but after that when launching the game Origin app opened and closed almost simultaneously, but nothing would happen. I purchased and installed the game via Steam.

Almost 35 hours in and nearing the end, I'm now able to finish the story. Hope others experiencing the same issue will do as well.

@Chekkonen86 

You're welcome!

@DeathXMetal92 

But Origin itself is working, meaning you can open the program independently and it runs? 

Do you have other Origin games?

@Chekkonen86 

Glad to hear you had success.

@holger1405 

Yes, Origin will open on it's own, and let me log into Origin, where I only have 2 games:

Mass Effect 2 Deluxe Edition and

Mass Effect 3 N7 Digital Deluxe Edition.

However, when I used to play the game, I would only click on the shortcut icon, which then would pop up a steam notification, then have Origin open and close, then start the game. I appreciate you still taking the time to help with me, and everyone else that has problems with this. I have a few other questions about trying to start the game. I have read through previous forums that have other solutions, one of which regarding "Compatibility Mode" under the "Properties" section for ME3. I have read that some people have solved this not launching problem by fixing the compatibility mode to Windows 7 or 8. Some have even said it works with Windows XP (Service Pack numbers I can't remember). I have noticed when I have tried changing that, Origin then would do something weird after installing. It would do a search for an update, and then give an error message saying it couldn't connect to the internet, which I cannot figure out how. So obviously that didn't work for me, or I may have done something wrong, I would still appreciate any additional support you can provide. I have also read that some people did a complete reinstall of Windows 10, clean boot, reinstall systems. I am not 100% certain this would work because some have posted that the reinstall didn't completely solve the problem, and especially since it's only one game that stopped working. Again, I would still appreciate any other ideas or solutions, anything. Thanks.

@DeathXMetal92 

But is ME2 working?

Do you have ME2 exclusive in Origin?

A test in compatibility mode can't hurt, but I doubt it will solve this problem.

A clean boot also can't hurt. But disable afterburner or similar software (if you use it) and your antivirus software in clean boot mode as well.

A fresh installation of Windows might work, but I can't guarantee it, there is simply no real indicator what the problem might be.

I would start with a repair installation anyway .

@holger1405 

No I have all three games (Mass Effect 1,2,3) on Steam. Mass Effect 2 would always launch via Steam, not Origin. I have not downloaded ME2 from Origin, it would run normally. I have "only" needed to install Origin when I started up Mass Effect 3. The only technical problem I had when I first launched ME3 was a Nvidia Pshyx error, which was solved instantly with a repair option from the control panel. I will try reinstalling Mass Effect 3 and Origin, and see if I have any progress with the previous solutions. I will reach out if I have had any success, or more problems.

@holger1405 

My game finally works! So after reinstalling Origins and ME3, I tried turning off compatibility mode to see if that would work. It did not, caused same issues (Steam refreshing, Origin opening and closing), and still the game wouldn't launch, However, I searched for the MassEffect3.exe app under the Binaries folder, ran that as admin, and the game actually launched! Since I didn't have both Mass Effect 1 and 2 reinstalled, I knew I would have to start a new game. Strangely enough, I found my 2 characters Save Files that carried from ME2 (Male, which I finished already and Female, which I didn't.) I did notice however that I was getting achievements (again) as if I never got them to begin with, but Steam obviously has everything I collected from the first gameplay through. I managed to play the game through the first 2 priority missions, up to the point to check if ALL the DLC was installed correctly, and so far they are (clothing, weapons, mission for Prothean squadmate). I am hoping this is a permanent fix, seeing as I actually got the game to work, I just can't launch from Steam or from Origin, even though the .exe launcher is from the steamapps folder. Anyway I just wanted to say thank you so much for your technical advice and suggestions, and of course, patience. I know this game is pretty old, but I have enjoyed this series since I first touched it on PC. I am also appreciative of you taking the time to help me and others find solutions for this.

@DeathXMetal92 

That is good to hear. 🙂

I still will mark post #13 as the solution, as it is most likely to solve the problem regarding the Steam/Origin interaction.

Have fun gaming!

THANK YOU!!! I was having that same issue and it worked for me!

Hey - been following this thread for the very same issue and wanted to say, @TheBeanBurrito2 - your directions fixed it (the last step that did it was the license to desktop thing).  Big thank you!

@GDB026 

You're welcome!

I was having the same issues after the latest windows update, and #13 fixed the issue. Thank you!

Worked for me -- thank you very much. Tried so much and finally found this. Awesome work. 🙂

@holger1405 

after hours of reading comments the game finally worked after deleting the Electronic arts folder.
thank you so much for your help. you just made my quarantine easier :D

@ArchaonLOTET 

You're welcome!

This trick did it for me. Thank you very much for the help.  🙌

I am having the same issue, just that it didnt happen after an update, i just bought the game today. I bought it and all DLC, installed it all and when i launch origin closes, and comes back after some seconds, the game does not launch, there is no activity in task manager. I have the game only in Origin, steam is closed. I tried:

-Repairing the game

-Reinstalling the game

-Rebooting windows

-Move the license folder, a new license was created

-move the biogame folder, a new one was created

-Run the exe directly, both as admin and without

-Disable origin in game

-Disable cloud saves

I noticed that when i click on my profile in origin it says "playing: mass effect 3", so origin thinks mass effect is running.

I did install mods (just ALOT, HD texture mod), but deleted it when i reinstalled the game.

Other games in origin (ME1, ME2, the dragon age games) work, with and without mods.

Im running windows 10 Version 20H2 Build 19042,1052

EDIT: and heres my DxDiag

EDIT2: forgot to mention that its the original one, not legendary edition

EDIT3: Also tried a full clean reinstall of origin as described in post #6

@mofusion 

There is no ME3 error report in your DxDiag.

Did you also moved the "Save" folder? (Documents/Bioware/Mass effect 3)

Go to your Reliability monitor > Press the Windows key and "R" at the same time and copy and paste or type "perfmon /rel" (without the quotes) in the new Window > hit “ENTER” and look if it has entries for the "MassEffect3.exe" or new entries for the "Origin.exe".

If yes double click at the last entry for the game executable, copy the info to the clipboard, and save it to a text file.

@holger1405 

I did not move the save folder because its empty, there are no saves because the game never ran, i just installed it today.

Reliability monitor does have two entry's for Origin, i believe it was due to me killing the task in task manager to make sure origin is fully closed.

I put both in the text file, it is in german but i assume you are too, if anyone else wants to help and need a translation i can provide that. I could not see what the problem was besides that origin was not responding.

One thing i noticed after reinstalling origin was that it verified all game data of all games and at mass effect 3 redownloaded one of the DLCs.

Thank you for your help, i really dont know what else to do at this point.

@mofusion 

---

mofusion wrote:

I put both in the text file, it is in german but i assume you are too,

---

And you assume right. 🙂

There is also no "Local_Profile.sav" file in the save folder?

You deleted the entire "Mass Effect 3" game folder before reinstalling?

Please clear your temp files:

• Press the Windows key and "R" at the same time
• Into the new window, type or copy & paste:  "%temp%"   (Without the quotes.) > hit "ENTER"
• Now your Windows Explorer should have brought you to the "C:\Users\>your user name<\AppData\Local\Temp" folder. > Delete all files and folders in it.
  (If some files or folders can't be deleted, reboot and try again.)

Then clear your Origin cache.
All settings in Origin (only in Origin not in the games) are back to default settings after this.

• Close Origin completely.
  (right click on the Origin symbol in the task bar > close)
• Press the Windows key and "R" at the same time.
• Type or copy and paste "%ProgramData%/Origin" (without quotes) into the new window > hit ENTER
• Delete all the files and folders in the Origin folder, except for the "LocalContent" folder.
  (The "LocalContent" folder must remain untouched.)
• Delete the "Mass Effect 3" folder inside the "LocalContent" folder.
• Press the Windows key and "R" at the same time.
• Type or copy and paste "%AppData%" (without quotes) into the new window > hit ENTER
• Now your Windows explorer should have brought you to your "C:\Users\>your user name<\AppData\Roaming" folder.
• Delete the "Origin"  folder inside the "Roaming" folder.
• In the address bar of your Windows explorer click on "AppData".
• Open the "Local" folder.
• Delete the "Origin"  folder inside the  "Local" folder.
• Press the Windows key and "R" at the same time.
• Type or copy and paste "C:\ProgramData\Electronic Arts\EA Services" (without quotes) into the new window > hit ENTER.
• Move the "License" folder to your Desktop > Test.
• Restart your PC. > Test

@holger1405 no local_profile.sav file the folder is completely empty, and yes i deleted the full folder after deinstalling it with origin

I deleted temp and origin cache and moved license again, after doing so and booting origin it verified all games again and downloaded some dlcs in multiple games again.

Testing mass effect 3 didnt work.

After the reboot of windows, origin verified some games and dlc again, even though it already did before the restart. For mass effect 3 it reverified reckoning and the N7 collectors content.

But all that still did not help, starting mass effect 3 still just refreshes origin.

What i noticed is that in the license folder all licenses are named like the games, except mass effect 3, this license is just called "71073"

And again does origin think i am already playing mass effect 3 in my profile.

EDIT: Another thing i noticed is that Mass effect 2 had 2 exe, MassEffect2.exe and ME2Game.exe and Origin uses ME2Game.exe. Mass Effect 3 only has MassEffect3.exe. The binaries folder is also quite empty compared to mass effect 2. Mass effect 2 has many dlls in there while 3 only has 3

@mofusion 

The ME3 file structure is normal.

Look at this post and follow the instructions please.

(This is my personal OneDrive.)

@holger1405 I replaced the dll files but the same issue appears, i then repaired mass effect 3 with origin, same thing.

I also tried windows 7 and XP compatibility modes with run as admin, that did not work either.

Everything that worked for others doesnt seem to work for me, i dont know whats happening.

@mofusion 

Please preform a clean boot and test the Game in clean boot mode.

Make sure your virus scanner and other security software and also Afterburner and similar software is disabled.

Make also sure that your GPU & CPU are not overclocked.