Lost in Random - "Origin is not installed"

Hey there,

Sorry you’ve had such a rough time getting Lost in Random (and now Jedi: Fallen Order) to launch. The “Origin is not installed”, or link2ea-style messages on Steam generally indicate that the EA app is not being detected/associated correctly, a stalled EA Background Service is present, or a mismatch exists between Steam and EA account linking.

I want to be upfront with you: this forum is a community space where players help each other, and it's not a direct line to our support team. For official EA support assistance, please visit https://help.ea.com, where you can open a ticket and work directly with our support specialists.

That said, I can offer some guidance based on solutions that have worked for other players experiencing the same "Origin is not installed" error:

Do these first:

1. Open the EA app once (as admin).
   Install/update the EA app, then right-click its shortcut → Run as administrator. Close it. Try launching from Steam again. (This re-hooks the Steam→EA hand-off.)
2. Clear the EA app cache.
   EA app → ☰ (top-left) → Help → App Recovery → Clear Cache. Takes 20–30s. (forums.ea.com)
3. Verify the game in Steam.
   Steam Library → right-click game → Properties… → Installed Files → Verify integrity. (help.steampowered.com)
4. Ensure the correct EA account is linked to your Steam account.
   Check EA Account → Connections and confirm Steam shows up there. If not, link it. (EA Help)

Still getting a “Origin is not installed” error or a Link2EA pop-up?

1. Re-register the link2ea handler (quick repair).
   That error means Windows doesn’t know which app should open link2ea://. Reinstall/repairing the EA app re-adds the handler. (forums.ea.com)
2. Launch the game once from inside the EA app.
   Some games need one first run in EA to set the install path; after that, Steam launches normally. (Common community fix.) (Steam Community)
3. Repair VC++ runtimes.
   Grab the latest Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables (x64 and x86) and reinstall -- bad runtimes can cause issues during the handoff. (Microsoft Learn)

If it still won’t behave: clean sweep

1. Do a clean EA app reinstall (removes leftovers).
   Uninstall the EA app, then follow the EA KB to wipe leftover folders before reinstalling. This fixes many weird link2ea loops. (forums.ea.com)
2. (Old Origin remnants?)
   If you had Origin years ago, leftovers can confuse things. The clean-reinstall guide above also covers removing those stragglers. (forums.ea.com)

Extra checks that help

• Disk/Steam issues: If Steam has trouble writing/patching, verify again. Check for disk write errors and clear the Steam download cache. (help.steampowered.com)
• Antivirus/firewall: Ensure the EA app and game EXEs are not blocked (especially during the initial handoff). General fix area; depends on your AV.
• Run as Admin (one-time): Try launching Steam and the EA app once as an administrator to allow Windows to set the necessary associations. (Steam Community)

Quick order to try now

1. Open EA app once (admin) → 2) Clear cache → 3) Steam verify → 4) Check account linking → 5) Reinstall/repair EA app for link2ea:// → 6) VC++ redists (x64 & x86) → 7) Clean reinstall if needed.

If you post back what happens at each step (with the exact error text being gold), I’ll zero in on the next move.