(PC) Unable to load game since yesterday, or maybe Tuesday

Well well well !! I was finally able to "solve" (sort of) the issue !!! I am unsure if it is on my end, or on EA's end though. But I have a very very interesting lead. I've done a Wireshark trace and noticed some funny TLS handshake errors (many many tls handshake warning close notify).

The issue is (I think) tied to an expired TLS certificate somewhere in between EA and my computer (and other computers in the household, and other people online as well). My computer has the latest Windows updates (Win11), as well as my daughter's (Win10) but we are both unable to play with the exact same symptom.

To test my theory, I've set the date back 1 month (March 3rd) on my computer. Loaded t he game, bam. it worked !! Then I've set the date back to today (April 3rd) and restarted the game ... it won't load : infinite spinning circle again. I've tried setting my date back one day at a time, and the first date that the game fails to load is March 25. If I set my computer back to March 24, the game loads and I can play online.

Once the game is loaded, I can set the date back to today, and I can play just fine. It is only a check during inital loading.

So. EA, can you please fix your certificate issue, or please tell us which certificates are required on our computers to make the game load properly?

TLDR: the issue is most likely an expired/revoked TLS certificate issue. Set your PC date back to a date BEFORE March 25 2024 and it will connect.