Game will no longer launch after Windows Update (Error Code: 15)

[Yamamoto80]

Hello! I think this is posted in the correct place, but if not I apologize.

I just did a long overdue Windows Update and something has gone amiss. The game doesn't seem to want to launch anymore. When I click Play in Steam I get the EAC popup, which loads all the way, but then errors-out after a minute. I get the following message "Game Client encountered an application error. (Error Code: 15)" with the the following details in the dropdown box.

GameID: 17 (64bit)
Windows Version: 10.0 (Build 19041)
Error Code: 15
Process Exit Code: 103h
UUID: (redacted)

I clicked the link in the popup box and was redirected to https://www.easy.ac/en-us/support/7dtd/issues/guide/.  I have tried the following...

1. Verify connectivity to Easy Anti-Cheat (I have gone into steam/steamapps/common/7DTD/EAC folder and repaired and uninstalled + reinstalled)
2. Update Windows (everything is completely updated now)
3. ran SFC /scannow
4. Update the game (have also verified file integrity)
5. Close all unnecessary programs
6. Manage your anti-virus (have not made any changes to my antivirus since last successful play attempt)

And yes, I have restarted my computer a few times as well for good measure. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

[Star69]

Unfortunately, Windows Update screwed up some software and in your case 7 Days. (Big surprise !!  /sarcasm). You are going to need to uninstall and reinstall the game. I guess you could roll back the update but it might be a needed security update so I wouldn’t go that route. Click on the blue banner at the top of the page for instructions on how to properly uninstall the game then reinstall. Let us know if that doesn’t fix your issue.

[Yamamoto80]

1 hour ago, Star69 said:

Unfortunately, Windows Update screwed up some software and in your case 7 Days. (Big surprise !!  /sarcasm). You are going to need to uninstall and reinstall the game. I guess you could roll back the update but it might be a needed security update so I wouldn’t go that route. Click on the blue banner at the top of the page for instructions on how to properly uninstall the game then reinstall. Let us know if that doesn’t fix your issue.

I clicked the banner you mentioned; I am no longer running the experimental build but I ran the steps as they were listed. I also went into Steam and Uninstalled 7DTD, then did a clean install. Still getting the "Game Client encountered an application error. (Error Code: 15)" when I try to launch.

[Yamamoto80]

So it looks like this is an EAC related problem. When I disable EAC via the launcher it launches without incident. Not sure how to rectify the EAC issue though...

[Star69]

A quick google search mentions excluding game folder from your antivirus might do the trick. Now I have my entire Steam folder excluded from my antivirus but at a minimum, try excluding your 7 Days folder.