Seeing the Launch Failed with Error code: LS-0018 message in Epic Games? Here is a simple solution to fix the Epic Games LS-0018 error.
Epic Games has kick-started its growth by offering users a lot of free games and deep discounts. That means many users, especially those who got awesome games for free, use Epic Games to play their favorite games. I’m no different. Though the market footprint of Epic Games is not as huge as Steam, it still is pretty big, and a lot of users depend on it to play games. As such, it must work without any hiccups. For the most part, it does work as it should.
However, that’s not always the case. Recently, I faced a strange issue where the game I want to play doesn’t open when launched from the Epic Games launcher; it shows the “LS-0018 error.” The total error is something like this:
Launch Failed
“Game” is already running.
Error Code: LS-0018
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Though the error is pretty descriptive and says that the game you are trying to launch is already running and cannot open another instance of the same game, the Epic Launcher doesn’t provide any way to force close the game and relaunch it. Thankfully, it is pretty easy to do. All you have to do is end the game process to fix the Epic Games LS-0018 error.
Let me show you how to fix the Epic Games LS-0018 error in Windows.
Fix Epic Games LS-0018 Error
There are three ways to fix the LS-0018 error. They are as follows. Click the quick link to follow each method.
1. Restart the computer
Most problems are automatically resolved once you restart the computer. As part of the restart process, Windows will close all the applications and unlock the locked files. This ensures any program that is being blocked due to it being locked or an already running instance can run normally.
To restart the computer, close all the running applications, right-click on the Start menu and select the “Shut down or sign out -> Restart” option. As soon as you choose it, the system will restart itself.
After restarting, the LS-0018 error should be fixed, and you will be able to launch the game from Epic Games Launcher.
2. End running game process
You have to manually force quit or end the running game process to fix the Epic Games LS-0018 error. It is pretty easy to do. Here is how.
- Open the Start menu.
- Search and open “Task Manager.”
- Go to the “Processes” tab.
- Find and select the game process.
- Click the “End Task” button.
- Close the Task Manager.
- With that, the LS-0018 error is fixed.
Note: You have to end the target game process, not the Epic launcher process.
After ending the process, try launching the same game from the Epic Launcher. The game should launch without any hiccups.
3. Force quit game launcher
Some games, like GTA V, use their launcher even when you install them via Epic Games. You might have to force close the game launcher to fix the Epic Games LS-0018 error in those cases. The steps are the same. Here is how.
- Open the Start menu.
- Search and open “Task Manager.”
- Go to the “Processes” tab.
- Find and select the game launcher process.
- Click the “End Task” button.
- Close the Task Manager.
- With that, the LS-0018 error is fixed.
That’s it. It is that simple to fix the Epic Games LS-0018 error in Windows.
I hope that helps.
If you are stuck or need some help, comment below, and I will try to help as much as possible.
Related: How to create a game shortcut in Epic Games Launcher
