While Dragon Age Inquisition isn’t the newest of games, it is still a fan favorite from the legendary RPG developers Bioware and published by EA.
Depending on your preference, you can run Dragon Age Inquisition through EA’s proprietary Origin client or Valve’s Steam platform.
However, some users have found that Avast Antivirus will flag Dragon Age Inquisition as a potential threat and prevent the game from launching or crashing the game on startup.
This is a tremendous source of frustration for anyone looking to play the classic RPG, but the good news is this is a very solvable issue, and we’ll show you how to do it.
Why is Avast blocking Dragon Age Inquisition?
There are many processes involved with launching a game like Dragon Age, from the game platform it launches through, such as Origin, the game’s executable, the Vulkan runtime libraries, or Direct X.
There are a lot of things here Avast might falsely flag as potential malware and block.
Let’s first run through the things that will potentially trigger Avast to block Dragon Age, and then we’ll show you how to fix it.
Blocked after a recent update
This is one of the less common issues but certainly, one that users report experiencing from time to time over on the EA forums.
When a recent update has been released, whether for the Origin client, the game itself, or any associated graphical programs, such as Driver or DirectX updates, Avast can see it as a threat and block it.
In these scenarios, often, a simple system reboot can solve it, and if it requires further work, we can start to add these processes to the Avast whitelist so it can’t flag them as a threat.
Executable is a false positive
As with any executable file, an Antivirus program may be misinterpreting it as malicious malware and blocking it. No one quite understands why, but Dragon Age seems particularly prone to this.
Like before, adding an exception for this software within Avast Antivirus will often fix the issue.
The game platform
As nice as it would be if we could be given a single .exe file to launch our games like in the old days, we are now almost always forced to launch a game through a third-party platform.
In Dragon Age’s case, that could be Steam or Origin. Because these platforms need to request access to the game, Avast can easily misinterpret that as a malicious attack and block the platform.
Communication with EA servers
Dragon Age Inquisition features a cooperative multiplayer component that requires both users to be connected to the EA/Bioware servers.
Even if you are playing in the single-player mode, there is a great deal of chatter between the game client and EA.
This data transfer between the EA servers, particularly for access requests, can easily become blocked by Avast, as it may believe EA is trying to access personal data.
How to stop Avast from blocking Dragon Age Inquisition
Now we know all the main causes of why Avast will block Dragon Age Inquisition. You’ve probably noticed that the common theme is to whitelist the game and the associated platform in Avast Antivirus.
Of course, this doesn’t always solve the issue, and there are other things we can do to fix it. Let’s walk through all the steps you can take to address the problem.
Simple PC reboot
The effectiveness of simply rebooting your PC should never be underestimated. Mainly after an update has been issued, there will be Windows registry entry adjustments that require a computer restart before they will work.
Even though Dragon Age isn’t updated much anymore as it’s an 8-year-old game, both Origin and Steam are updated frequently, so this is a significant first step to try.
Whitelist all associated processes within Avast
This should only be done when you are 100% sure you can trust the software you are whitelisting.
While many might argue EA isn’t the most trustworthy company in the world, we can at least be sure their programs do not contain malicious viruses or ransomware.
Here’s how to whitelist a file within Avast:
- Open Avast Antivirus and navigate to the menu, then settings.
- Click the General tab at the top and then the Exceptions tab.
- Click “Add exception.”
- You select the executable file (or URL) of the program or website you need to unblock.
The first two things to add to this exception list are the Dragon Age Inquisition .exe file and the associated platform you are launching the game through, which could be either Steam or Origin.
In addition, if you notice any other third-party programs that the game utilizes, such as keyboard/mouse software, DirectX, the Vulkan Runtime libraries, and even your graphics card driver, you can add these. However, test the game first, as usually adding just the game’s .exe file is enough.
Temporarily disable Avast
This is a bit of a hacky solution, but if your issue only occurs on game startup, you can right-click the Avast System Tray icon and temporarily disable Avast for 10 minutes.
You can then boot the game up without interference from Avast. Once the game is open, it won’t scan it again as a starting process, so it should continue working fine.
Run in compatibility mode
Some users, particularly those on older operating systems, have reported that changing the compatibility mode in which they are running the game has stopped it from being flagged by Avast.
To do this, find the Dragon Age Inquisition game folder in the file explorer, locate the executable file, right-click on it, and select Properties.
From here, open the compatibility tab, select Run as Administrator, and then select “Run this program in compatibility mode.”
Save these settings, and relaunch the game.
Disable Origin in-game
If you don’t care much for things like the in-game overlay or having direct access to Origin while the game is launched, disabling it can solve many access conflicts and blocked server communications.
To do this, open the Origin desktop client. Click the Origin icon from the top menu bar and select “Application settings.”
There will be a toggle switch called “Origin In-Game.” You can disable this to prevent Origin from running within the Dragon Age software.
Reinstall the game
Suppose none of the above suggestions have worked at this stage. In that case, it’s best to completely reinstall the game using something like IObit Uninstaller, which will also help you remove any residual files and stubborn Windows entries.
Once the game has been completely removed from the system, redownload it through the Origin or Steam client, re-add it to the Avast whitelist, and boot it again.
