[Old Report] Unable To Launch Game Through Steam/EA App

Commander, you have a new message at your private terminal!

Wanted to update this. I am waiting on an update for this but sadly there has not yet been one posted. I do have a couple of things to try which I bet some have but some may not.

First, make sure that Windows is not blocking the game from launching. When I install new games, sometimes Windows security pops up and says allow access. Make sure that isn't there or click allow access.
Make sure that both Steam, the game, and the EA App are all on the same drive.
Install/Repair your VC++ files for the game (Microsoft VC++ Link)

Check for other applications that may be limiting EA App or Game performance

In Steam

• Right-click the game
• Go to DLC
• uncheck Mass Effect Legendary Edition key
• Verify the integrity of the game files and make sure that box under DLC is not checked

Try to launch the game again and see if it is running in task manager, or not there at all.

If this does not work, please let me know that all steps above were tried and what happened when the game was launched.

@EA_Shepard 

I have done all the steps and for a brief moment I was hopeful. I was able to get the game to load into the Mass Effect Legendary Edition Launcher, where I could have selected which game to play. I was happy that specifically those steps listed for Steam seemed to have solved my issue. Rather that diving in and playing the game again, I wanted to make sure I would be able to launch the game whenever I wanted to, so I exited the game's launcher. When I went to start my game again I was once again greeted with the same message, an error occured on our end, please try again in a little while. Disappointed, I decided to follow the same steps for Steam as suggested. I made sure it was checked in DLC, verified my game files, and attempted to launch the game. No success, same error message. So then I tried the EA app recovery, restarted both the EA app and Steam, made sure it was checked in DLC and verified my game files again, and still nothing. I hope you have some more suggestions as to how I may solve this issue once and for all. I now know it's possible to make it at least launch the games own launcher (maybe we need a third launcher?) and that only makes the situation even more frustrating. Please help!

@redrew83 

There is a custom launcher available on Nexus Mods.

I can't link it directly here, but you can find a link in the sticked workaround post under "Fixed" (Position 2.)

@holger1405 

Thanks again for the suggestion. I truly appreciate your help. It did not work for me. I still recieve the same error from the EA app. I was hopeful that a modder would/could do what EA hasn't yet, but nope. 

I managed to make it work but this is beyond ridiculous.

You have to install Origin (not EA App). And it must be a very specific version of it. Then disable the option to automatically update the app because you want to start at a specific version of Origin. You don't want it to update to the point of prompting you to switch to the EA App.

With that specific version Origin I could finally launch the game. This happens for other games like Dragon Age Inquisition, too.

It's absolutely pathetic. I can't believe EA abandons their products this way. The best solution would be to just release the game on Steam and REMOVE the need of the EA App or any secondary launcher.

I got it to work with the EA app by clicking on the three lines in the top left above Home then clicking Settings>Application>Disable In-Game Overlay.

I was having this issue in both Mass Effect 3 and ME:LE.

I am having the same problem.  Contacted EA Support via Chat and tried all the steps that they suggested at the following URLs. 

https://help.ea.com/in/help/pc/pc-graphics-troubleshooting/

https://help.ea.com/in/help/pc/troubleshoot-vc-dll-errors/

https://help.ea.com/in/help/faq/clear-cache-to-fix-problems-with-your-games/

None of the above helped and EA closed the ticket and directed me to Answers HQ.  Reviewed multiple MELE posts and decided to work my way through this one as it seemed to be the most promising and relevant.  Note that this seems to be an issue that people are having with many EA games purchased through Steam.

Attached is my dxdiag file.

I have worked my way through pretty much all suggested steps in this post with the exception of the Clean Boot.  May try that later when I have more time.

What I am specifically seeing is as follow: With Steam and EA App both open, regardless of whether I try to open the game using the desktop shortcut, the Steam Play button or the EA play button, I see a new Link2EA application open for 5-10 seconds.  The Link2EA app shows onscreen with a border and title but is otherwise black.  See attached Screenshot 🏀.

The Link2EA app then closes but nothing else happens.  Was monitoring task manager and it looks like it is trying to open a second instance of the EA app (see attached Screenshot (8)

I wish you luck, but don't hold your breath. I gave up. EA has won. They have stolen their digital product back and there is nothing we can do about it.

If you are a superfan of the game and can stomach giving EA any more of your hard earned money, get a cheap copy for a console (if you have one). At least the console version has nothing to do with the EA App, so you will be able to play and enjoy this amazing series. 

This worked for me.

I had to start EA app separately and then log into it before being able to launch the game from steam (with the master code unchecked - dlc unchecked when launched in steam).

I'm having the same problem. It used to work fine back when I had Origin installed, then it forced me to "migrate" to the EA App. Didn't touch the game for a while after that.

Then I had an urge to start up MELE today and try a new playthrough, but it refuses to launch. This is my process.

1. I click the play button in my Steam client.
2. The EA App opens. Link2EA appears in my task manager.
3. It says its preparing the game (or something) for at least a minute, then vanishes.
4. Link2EA vanishes from my task manager.
5. The game hasn't launched.

I've tried:

• A fresh boot
• Setting the MELE launcher to run as admin
• Setting the EA App to run as admin.
• Opening the EA App separately before trying to launch the game from Steam.
• Clearing the EA App's cache.
• Logging in to the EA App with my linked Steam account.
• Launching the game through Steam with the "key" disabled in the DLC tab.
• Launching the game from the EA App directly (it just says its loading the game indefinitely).
• Verifying the files through Steam.

I am very reluctant to uninstall and reinstall the game because my connection speed is so slow that it would take almost a whole week of night-only download sessions to get the game reinstalled. However I have read there were a couple of other workarounds involving reinstalling Origin (somehow) and tricking it into not auto-upgrading to the EA App, but I'm not certain I should try that.

I filed a trouble ticket earlier today about it, but I suppose that Link2EA is what's choking right now. But why would it choke when launching MELE when I can launch Mass Effect: Andromeda with only a short delay?

@SwordFox5208 

• Make sure EA app and Steam are closed.
• Press the Windows key and "R" at the same time.
• Type or copy and paste "%ProgramData%\Electronic Arts\EA Services" (without the quotes) into the new Window > ENTER
• Move the "License" folder to your desktop.
• Test.

@holger1405 

Tried it. Its a no-go. The same thing happens; it says it is "preparing game", then Link2EA appears in my task manager. After about 30 seconds, the pop-up vanishes and the Link2EA process self-terminates. The game doesn't get launched.

@SwordFox5208 

Please preform a clean boot and test the Game in clean boot mode.
(Make sure the "EABackgroundService" remains enabled under point 3 in the guide.)

Make sure your virus scanner and other security software and also Afterburner and similar software is disabled.

@holger1405

A reboot is one of the things I tried a few days ago, but not the completely minimal "clean boot". I also added exceptions for the game's launcher and Link2EA in my antivirus, which is Avira Security.


Avira doesn't give me an option to disable it in the typical sense, it only allows me to disable its "real-time protection" feature for a time that cannot exceed 24 hours.


I'll give the clean boot a shot and get back to you.

@SwordFox5208 

In your EA accounts "My Account" page, under connections, is Steam shown as linked?

@holger1405 

Affirmative. I'm almost at my wit's end here and if I can get this working I'll just fall back to playing the OG ME1 and ME2 on Steam.

@SwordFox5208 

• Go here and download "Revo Uninstaller". (The freeware version, Portable version works too.)
• Run "Revo Uninstaller" > Uninstall EA App.
• At the end of the main uninstall, Revo will ask you which cleaning method you want to use. > Select "intensive" > Browse.
• If "Remaining registration content found" is displayed > Select All > Delete > Next
• When "Remaining Data and Folders" is displayed > Select All (Make sure the "Origin Games" or "EA Games" folder is not in the list) > Delete.
• Restart the PC.
• Download the newest EA app from here.
• Install EA app.
• Restart the PC > Test.

@holger1405 

Took a few days, but I did it. The results still haven't changed. Something's still busted and at this point I wonder how long it will be until EA fixes it on their end. Something definitely changed since the Origin App was replaced by the EA App. Would I be better served buying MELE through Origin and using that exclusively instead of the Steam version? Or maybe stick to the OG games since they're in my Steam library?

As the screenshot shows (apologies for it being large, the taskbar is just skinned), Link2EA is trying to do something, but I have no idea what and it self-terminates after 30 seconds without MELE being launched. It "prepares" to do so and just doesn't get anywhere.

I'm now frustrated with not being able to launch this game, either through the EA App or through Steam. Mass Effect: Andromeda still launches because it requires the EA App (was Origin before that), so I don't know what's going on.

@SwordFox5208 

I can't say what exactly is blocking the game for you either, we however have made every reasonable troubleshooting attempt.

This might be a problem inside the OS or something blocking Link2EA or a different function on your system.
An account problem is possible too.

@holger1405

I appreciate the assistance too. Its been very frustrating, but I had to resort to a workaround that was on the game's discussion forums on Steam (and mentioned occasionally here in these forums). Surprisingly enough that worked like a charm even though I shouldn't have had to use it to begin with. 

This tells me that something in the EA App doesn't like my system or vice versa and either way this means I may not be able to launch the game through the EA App or Steam because Link2EA is somehow borked with my install of Windows 10. I don't know why they made this cross-platform communication a separate process from the main app, but they have their reasons.

I bet if I bought and installed a game exclusively through the EA App it would work as intended, since that would (in theory) not require the use of Link2EA since it comes from within the app itself unlike games bought in Steam. I will test this with a purchase of the OG ME3 since its on sale (and I don't mind showing the devs of the series a little love for their time and effort in making the ME universe). 🙂

In the end I can play MELE again, though I'd prefer if the EA App and my system could get along when it comes to games I purchased on Steam.

And since its December 24th as I post this, I hope everyone is cozy and enjoying the company of friends and family on this holiday. So happy holidays, guys! 🙂