EA SPORTS WRC will not launch - Javelin Anticheat Error 87 / Invalid game directory
Game: EA SPORTS WRC (PC, EA App)
Computer name: VENGEANCE
OS: Windows 11
Summary:
WRC fails to launch every time. Event Viewer (Application log) logs an EA Javelin Anticheat error (Event ID 1000) each attempt: "The game wrc.exe exited unexpectedly, exit code: 0x1." Most recently, the EA App itself also returned a generic error: "Failed to launch game. An error on our end caused the launch to fail. Try again a little later."
Troubleshooting already completed (no change in behavior):
- Repaired the game via EA App (My Collection > WRC > Repair)
- Ran EAAntiCheat.Installer.exe from both C:\Program Files\EA\AC\ and the game's own bundled installer folder - both give "Invalid game directory" when selecting Repair, even when pointing to the correct install path (C:\Program Files\EA Games\EA SPORTS WRC)
- Manually starting the EAAntiCheatService in services.msc fails with "Error 87: The parameter is incorrect"
- Deleted and recreated the EAAntiCheatService via sc delete / sc create, pointing to EAAntiCheat.GameService.exe - no change
- Ran sc query EAAntiCheatService to confirm the service exists (STOPPED, WIN32_EXIT_CODE 0)
- Ran sfc /scannow - no integrity violations found
- Ran DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth - completed, no change
- Ran fsutil resource setautoreset true C: and rebooted - no change
- Confirmed DNS resolves gateway.ea.com correctly (tested via 8.8.8.8 after finding ISP DNS was timing out; switched system DNS to 8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4 - no change to the anticheat error)
- Verified no third-party antivirus is installed (Windows Defender only)
- Temporarily disabled Core Isolation / Memory Integrity - no change
- Checked Reliability Monitor - no critical events logged for the crash
- Checked %localappdata%\WRC\Saved\Logs\WRC.log - file is empty
- Ruled out a WRC_Trial.exe file in the Win64 folder as a cause (temporarily removed it, error persisted)
- Confirmed install folder structure and installerdata.xml manifest are present and intact
Given that Windows-level checks (SFC, DISM, service registration) all come back clean and the anticheat installer consistently rejects the correct install directory as invalid, I believe this may require backend access to my account/entitlement or install-token data to diagnose further. Could you please investigate on your end?
Thank you for your help.
