EA SPORTS FC 26 (Steam) won’t launch
I’m having an issue with EA SPORTS FC 26 on Steam and I’m completely stuck at this point.
First of all i downloaded the Showcase version of the game via steam, and it didn't started when I launched the game. Because of this problem, and the negative critics on steam, I decided to buy the full version of the game, I thought that this will solve my problem.
I bought FC26 via steam, and the game is correctly detected in the EA App as “Standard Edition accessed through Steam” and “Managed on Steam”. I launch the game from Steam, not from the EA App (but i already tried to launch it in the EA app, still doesn't work)
What happens when I press Play:
- EA AntiCheat permission prompt appears → I allow it
- FC 26 small launch window stays on screen for ~45–60 seconds
- A black console window flashes for a few seconds
- Everything closes
- EA App pops up with the error: “Failed to launch game. An error on our end caused the launch to fail. Try again a little later.”
I already reinstalled the game once, but the issue persists.
What I’ve already tried:
- Verified game files in Steam
- Full EA AntiCheat uninstall and reinstall
- Disabled Memory Integrity / Core Isolation
- Closed all background apps and overlays (Discord, MSI Afterburner, RTSS, AMD Adrenalin, SteelSeries, etc.)
- Added EA / AntiCheat / game folders to Windows Defender exclusions
- Ran Steam and EA App as administrator
- Launch options like -dx11/-dx12
- Made exceptions for the Anticheat folder, and the game folder aswell
- Downloaded C++ redist aswell
- GPU driver is up to date
I couldn't try these options: Disabling Hyper-V, Virtual Machine Platform, Windows Hypervisor Platform. Beacuse according to my knowledge these these are not part of the Windows 11 Home OS and I have that one.
I do not know if this information is helpful, but i do not activated my windows yet, because my pc is literally 2 days old, if this is the case, then I'm doing it immediately.
Despite all this, the game still fails to launch with the same error.
Here is my pc configuration:
CPU and GPU: AMD R7 7800X3D, RX 9070 XT
RAM: Kingston Fury 2x16 GB 6000 mhz
OS: Windows 11 home
EA app version: Haven't found it but i guess its up to date, cause i downloaded it 2 days ago
Security System: Windows Defender
Funniest thing is that, that on my way much worse 5 years old Laptop, the game launches. And FC25, 24, and 23 also launched on it without any problem.
Here is the laptop config:
CPU and GPU: GTX 1650 4gb, i5-103000
OS: Windows 11 pro
Ea app version: Newest
Security system: Windows defender
Has anyone encountered this with FC 26 / EA AntiCheat on Steam and found a fix?
Any help would be appreciated.