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Re: "This game will not run in a virtual environment".

Hey there, I've been running into a similar issue with Dragon Age 2. Unfortunately EA seems to be ignoring the issue or dancing around the actual problem (despite it being quite a common issue amongst Surface-Pro users - I've found numerous threads on it).

What I found was that I had to re-install Origin. Here's my step-by-step take that seemed to work for DA2, at least (not sure about other games). It's arduous but worth imo.

1. Uninstall EA.

2. Install an older version of Origin (safest bet is probably early 2022). Finish installing, setting it up, etc. Now, you should get a popup with EA basically saying "move to EA!" Ignore this for now.

3. Task Manager > End task (Origin). Make sure that it's closed, or this next part won't work (simply pressing the "x" button doesn't work usually - you have to actually use task manager).

4. Go to Settings > Time and Date settings > change date and time to 01/01/2023.

5. Turn off Wifi/internet connection.

6. Open WinR and go to: C:\ProgramData\Origin\local.xml

7. Below the first "<Settings>" line paste this in: <Setting key="MigrationDisabled" type="1" value="true" />


Save this.

Open Origin and log in (it may show up with a blank screen and seem like it's not working, but that's okay. Keep it open and open the game that you want to play (via a game shortcut would be best). If you're playing the game with Steam, it will ask if it can make changes to your device. Click "no." It may also ask you to go into offline mode. Agree to this.


Your should open. You should be safe to close Origin, turn the WIFI on and change the date and time back to automatic as long as you keep the game window open.

I must say, I hope EA fixes this issue soon, or allows people to use Origin for these purposes because it's kind of a scam to prevent consumers from playing games that they spent money on. Have a good one, stranger. 

3 Replies

  • xVertigo's avatar
    xVertigo
    2 years ago

    Same here with Bejeweled 3 on Surface pro 4 running Windows 11 22H2 22621.2861.

  • Apparently this seems to be a common issue with Surface devices and using the EA Launcher, im trying to play PvZ 1, and Dead Space for nostalgias sake but every time I try to run the game I just keep getting the same issue over and over "This game will not run in a virtual enviroment" its super frustrating because I am very obviously not running a virtual envrioment, I've tried running with administrator control, tried running forced 800x600 mode, tried running compatibility mode in windows XP, Vista, and 7 the game just will. not. run. I'm at my wits end and just want to play the game, this seems like a widespread issue with the EA Launcher itself as not only are there multiple threads about this exact issue all over these forums and google, but I myself vividly remember this game running back when I had the origin launcher, it seems like the EA Launcher is not passing some sort of anti-piracy check or is bugging out in some way

    System Specs:

    Surface Laptop 5
    i7-1255U, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, 15" Screen, Windows 11.

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