EAC Error Reason 5 – Game closes after “Press any button” (Steam)

Hello,

I’m experiencing the same issue as many other players since the latest patch.

Platform: Steam
OS: Windows
Error message:

EAC Failure: Reason 5 (Unknown file version)
AOC\Content\Paks\pakchunk200_s40-WindowsClient.ucas

What happens:
The game launches normally, but after the second “Press any button to continue” screen, the game immediately closes. No additional error message.

What I’ve already tried:

Verified game files via Steam
Repaired Easy Anti-Cheat
Restarted the PC
Launched Steam as administrator
Cleared cache

The issue started after the last patch, and everything was working fine before.

From what I can see, this looks like an Easy Anti-Cheat version mismatch after the patch, possibly server-side.

Is this a known issue?
Is there an ETA for a fix or hotfix?

Thanks.

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Comments

Mepps

We are investigating these reports.

You might try deleting the specific file called out, then verifying your files/install through Steam again.

stolasgdb33

Ashes of Creation 15_12_2025 00_27_59.png

I tried deleting the file as suggested and re-verifying via Steam.

However, the EAC error still occurs, but now it points to a different file:
pakchunk200_s32-WindowsClient.ucas
(previously it was pakchunk200_s40).

It seems EAC is rejecting multiple pakchunk200 files after the patch, not a single corrupted file.
This looks like a broader EAC/version mismatch rather than a local file issue.

Mepps

You may have success deleting this next file and trying again. (This is a potential workaround for now. We will identify the root cause and fix.)

Caeryl

Realtime demonstration why dropping the actual Intrepid launcher for Steam was a bad idea.

stolasgdb33

Thank you for fixing the issue.Everything is working properly now on my end.Much appreciated.

Much_Ete

https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/comment/512347#Comment_512347

They didn't - mine is currently doing exactly what yours did. Gives me confidence I can fix it client side so, thanks for posting.

https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/comment/512169#Comment_512169

I've deleted several in a row now and it keeps finding a new file that it will fail on.

I'm now going to do this deletion process on all files in that folder that are in the "200" pakchunk which also end in the .ucas file extension. So far every errored file I've encountered has those two hallmarks and, so did both of the OPs files. I'm also deleting their associated .utocs - I'm guessing they need to be reindexed and are small.

Update - I Deleted the .pak files as well, also very small, so in total I took out everything that started with "pakchunk200". The game loaded in to the character selection screen, where I found almost all assets to be missing except the squirrel in bottom right and some polygons of color but, the UI was present. I'm now waiting through a verify integrity of game files in steam - it found and is replacing the 31.8 GB of files I removed.

Conclusion - That worked. It took a while to re-download so, it's possible deleting them one at a time as they get called out by the error would have been faster but, either way would likely work as long as you keep deleting the errored file # until it doesn't error anymore. All of mine were apparently in the 200s though /shrug. Good Luck, hope this helps.

CombatThong

This may be working for the pak files but it is NOT a viable solution for the AOCClient.exe (EAC) file. I've done full reinstalls, run as admin, manually load EAC, verify, etc to no avail.

drmah555

am having the same problem. i tried everything nothing working , i deleted and reinstalled game twice

any idea what to do?

BroTang

grotesque

AOC fail -Screenshot 2025-12-24 195118.png

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