Launch errors WD-L004, WD-L014, WD-L020 and crashes

The game won’t start, or crashes right after launch, and the error window shows a WD-L0xx code. Most of these codes relate to the Elytra anti-cheat or to a Windows update.

In short

• WD-L020 — Team17 suspects an incompatibility with the Windows 11 preview update KB5124010 (22 September 2026). Temporary way out: uninstall that update until the developers ship a fix.
• WD-L014, WD-L004, WD-L009 — usually a broken Elytra anti-cheat: run its installer from the game folder and choose Repair, then verify game files in Steam and reboot.
• There is no universal cure: players report that some steps help only some people, and for a few the error comes back.

What the codes mean

Code	What is known
WD-L020	Launch error after the September Windows 11 update. Team17 called the cause “possible”; no fix as of 23 September.
WD-L014	Usually a corrupted Elytra install. The thread is marked “fixed”, but some players say the error returns.
WD-L004	The anti-cheat cannot be authorized. One player still had it after reinstalling, Repair and a time sync.
WD-L009	“Certificate signature cannot be verified”. Reinstalling Elytra did not help everyone.
WD-L006, WD-L007, WD-L010	On the crash list Team17 is investigating; no dedicated fixes.

WD-L020: Windows update KB5124010

Team17 wrote on 23 September 2026 that some players hit WD-L020, with the Windows 11 update KB5124010 (a preview update for 24H2 and 25H2) as the possible cause. The developers are working on a fix.

What Team17 offers (at your own risk):

1. Open Settings → Windows Update → Update history → Uninstall updates.
2. Select KB5124010 and uninstall it.
3. Restart the PC and launch the game.

If the update isn’t listed, that is a limit of your system: some players say the option is missing. Then the only choice is to wait for the fix. Other players reported that uninstalling it worked, but those are comment reports we haven’t verified.

WD-L014, WD-L004, WD-L009: repair Elytra

These steps combine Team17’s advice and a player thread:

1. In Steam, right-click WARDOGS → Manage → Browse local files.
2. Open the Elytra folder, run the installer (Elytra-Setup.exe) and choose Repair.
3. If you still have the WARDOGS Playtest client, uninstall it.
4. In game properties: Installed files → Verify integrity of game files.
5. Fully reboot the PC and launch the game. The player who suggested this isn’t sure whether Repair or the reboot did it, but Repair alone didn’t work.
6. You can also run Steam as administrator.

Team17’s general crash checklist

The pinned “Crashes” thread (last edited 18 September) advises:

• verify game files and update the GPU driver;
• turn off CPU and GPU overclocking and cap the frame rate at 60 FPS;
• make sure antivirus, firewall and Windows Security aren’t blocking WARDOGS or Elytra;
• uninstall or disable Qemu Guest Agent, Dr.Web and similar software;
• leave Windows Insider builds for a regular build;
• disable Hyper-V, Windows Sandbox, WSL2 and Virtual Machine Platform;
• turn off Memory Integrity: Windows Security → Device security → Core isolation details;
• test your network with a phone hotspot.

Minimum: Windows 10 64-bit, Intel i5-8600 or Ryzen 5 3500, 16 GB RAM, GTX 1660 or RX 590.

Note

Players in the same thread wrote that August crashes stopped after uninstalling Windows update KB5121003. These are individual reports, not officially confirmed.

If nothing helps

Post in “Report a Problem” in the WARDOGS Steam discussions and include the full error code. Threads with codes: Crashes, WD-L020, WD-L014.

Information gathered from Steam discussions as of 12 October 2026; we haven’t tested these methods on our own PC.