Epic Games' EasyAntiCheat Fiasco: Thousands Report Outages in Fortnite, ARC Raiders, and More
Thousands of users complained about Fortnite, Epic Games, ARC Raiders, Among Us being down
A widespread outage affecting Fortnite, ARC Raiders, Among Us, and other popular titles has left gamers frustrated, with EasyAntiCheat (EAC) being blamed for the issue. According to Downdetector, a platform that tracks online outages, at least 35,000 reports were filed for ARC Raiders.
Gamers took to social media to share their experiences, with many posting screenshots of error messages reading 'EAC cannot be instantiated.' EasyAntiCheat is a widely used anti-cheat software developed by Kamulearning Ltd and acquired by Epic Games in 2018. It's integrated into hundreds of titles to detect and prevent cheating in online multiplayer games.
So, what is EasyAntiCheat? In short, it's a robust anti-cheat system that runs in the background, scanning a player's system for unauthorized software or modifications that violate game rules. It operates at a deep system level, requiring administrative permissions, and can detect sophisticated cheats.
However, when EAC fails to initialize, it can prevent games from launching, resulting in the 'EAC cannot be instantiated' error. If you're experiencing this issue, here are some steps to troubleshoot:
1. **Check server status**: Visit status.epicgames.com or Downdetector.com to confirm if EAC servers are down.
2. **Restart game and launcher**: Fully close the game and Epic Games Launcher/Steam, then relaunch as administrator.
3. **Verify game files**: Check for corrupted EAC files by verifying game files in the Epic Games Launcher or Steam.
4. **Reinstall Easy Anti-Cheat**: Run the EasyAntiCheat_Setup.exe as administrator to repair or reinstall EAC.
5. **Disable conflicting software**: Turn off antivirus and check firewall settings to ensure EAC is allowed to run.
6. **Reinstall game or launcher**: As a last resort, uninstall the game via Epic/Steam, delete residual folders, and reinstall.
If the issue persists, you can contact Epic Games support with error details, system specs, and logs. Epic Games has promised to resolve the issue as soon as possible, and we'll keep you updated on any developments.
