BF 2042 doesn't start after Windows Update KB5064081

Hey everyone,

I’ve been having serious trouble launching Battlefield 2042 via Steam. Here’s what happens:

I start the game through Steam
The EA App opens and shows the splash screen
Then the game window opens—but immediately closes again

Steam’s file verification always reports exactly 3 corrupted files, no matter what I try. So far, I’ve reinstalled the game three times, and before each reinstall I’ve:

Uninstalled the game via Steam
Manually deleted all folders and registry entries related to:
Battlefield 2042
EA Desktop
Electronic Arts
Easy Anti Cheat
Installed the game on a completely different drive with a new install path

Still, the issue persists: Steam keeps detecting 3 corrupted files. In the Anti-Cheat log, the following appears:

C:\Users\xbl>sc query eaanticheatservice

SERVICE_NAME: eaanticheatservice
        TYPE               : 10  WIN32_OWN_PROCESS
        STATE              : 1  STOPPED
        WIN32_EXIT_CODE    : 0  (0x0)
        SERVICE_EXIT_CODE  : 0  (0x0)
        CHECKPOINT         : 0x0
        WAIT_HINT          : 0x0

C:\Users\xbl>sc query eaanticheatservice

SERVICE_NAME: eaanticheatservice
        TYPE               : 10  WIN32_OWN_PROCESS
        STATE              : 2  START_PENDING
                                (NOT_STOPPABLE, NOT_PAUSABLE, IGNORES_SHUTDOWN)
        WIN32_EXIT_CODE    : 0  (0x0)
        SERVICE_EXIT_CODE  : 0  (0x0)
        CHECKPOINT         : 0x1
        WAIT_HINT          : 0x15f90

C:\Users\xbl>sc query eaanticheatservice

SERVICE_NAME: eaanticheatservice
        TYPE               : 10  WIN32_OWN_PROCESS
        STATE              : 4  RUNNING
                                (STOPPABLE, NOT_PAUSABLE, IGNORES_SHUTDOWN)
        WIN32_EXIT_CODE    : 0  (0x0)
        SERVICE_EXIT_CODE  : 0  (0x0)
        CHECKPOINT         : 0x0
        WAIT_HINT          : 0x0

C:\Users\xbl>sc query eaanticheatservice

SERVICE_NAME: eaanticheatservice
        TYPE               : 10  WIN32_OWN_PROCESS
        STATE              : 1  STOPPED
        WIN32_EXIT_CODE    : 0  (0x0)
        SERVICE_EXIT_CODE  : 0  (0x0)
        CHECKPOINT         : 0x0
        WAIT_HINT          : 0x0

C:\Users\xbl>

Interestingly, Battlefield V, which I also installed via Steam, runs perfectly fine.

I reached out to EA Support, and they asked if I had installed any Windows updates recently. Turns out I did:
KB5064081 (OS Build 26100.5074) — titled “Windows Secure Boot Certificate Expiration”. That seems pretty relevant to the Anti-Cheat system.

Unfortunately, EA couldn’t offer a solution other than uninstalling the update. They said they’re investigating internally to see what can be done.

So here’s my question:
Has anyone else run into this issue and found a fix without uninstalling the Windows update? I’d really prefer not to roll back a security patch.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Cheers,
Christian