Battlefield 3 PC - Unable to play game after Origin update 21/01/21(B2K/Premium)

[UKF-CromeBull9]

I have an issue with BF3 after Origin did an update on the 21st of January 2021, I own BF3 Limited Edition and Premium which I purchased years ago (I also do have EA Play Membership).

I opened Origin exactly how I would normally and after the Origin update I went to play BF3 and clicked Play but nothing happened. I shut my PC down and restarted but this made no difference, I still had the same issue.

I then thought I would try and get into Battlelog through google, I got on to Battlelog and tried to join a server and a message popped up saying I need the B2K expansion pack (which I own already), I then tried to join a server that wasn't running the B2K maps and it showed me as joining server but I could not get in game.

I then contacted EA help through live chat over 2 days and they asked me to -

1. Clear game cache (I did this and nothing changed)

2. Uninstall the game and reinstall (I did this and nothing changed)

3. Uninstall Origin the hard way (I did this and nothing changed)

EA tried things their end and nothing changed, I then rang EA and spent 90 minutes trying to get a solution and nothing was resolved.

Prior to uninstalling the game I noticed that when I look at the extra content under BF3 in Origin that all the DLC's say installed except for B2K & Premium, B2K & Premium say unlocked.

When I went to reinstall the game the first time I noticed B2K & Premium are not in the list for the download but all the others are like Aftermath, CQ, End Game etc.

EA could not help any further and cannot seem to find a solution and they advised I reported this issue here.

I know at least 6 other people that have the exact same issue and this also started for them on Thursday 21/01/21 after the Origin update.

For me this issue lies with the Origin update as I have done nothing different than normal, I need a resolution to this problem and am furious at not being able to play BF3... please EA/Origin find a solution for me and anyone else affected.

[UKF-CromeBull9 · Accepted solution]

My issue is now sorted, I reinstalled the game on my C Drive (ssd), originally it was in my D Drive (hdd).  Everything is now working, I can play on any map from any DLC.

Not sure if it made a difference when I installed the game onto the same drive as the Origin client (C) or if what EA did there end sorted the problem.

thanks for any replies 😁

[chiefjekyll]

I have the same problem as described above. After many tries I can join via browser but not via origin. In origin, the "play" button is gone and replaced with "details". When I click repair, origin always crashes. Defenitely broken by the origin update. Today some other people told me they having the same issue.

Maybe bf3 is still too alive and bug is intentional?

[Major_Raine]

Hi guys, I've just fixed the issue after chatting with a game advisor who was very helpful. Here is the transcript of the chat in case it can help. You can reach out to an agent here: https://help.ea.com/en/contact-us/

Spoiler

Agent (25/1/2021, 14:28:03): Thank you for contacting EA HELP, my name is ***, may I start with your first name please?
Me (25/1/2021, 14:28:34): Hi ***, I was chatting with ***, what happened? I'm ***, nice to meet you
Agent (25/1/2021, 14:28:58): I see that the previous agent has lost connection. Please stay connected, let me go over through the previous conversation so that you do not have to repeat over everything again
Me (25/1/2021, 14:30:39): It's fine. This is a follow-up of test case 73885245‎. I'm unable to launch servers containing the Back to Karkand DLC. Every time I try to launch them I get the message "To play on this server you need Back to Karkand". I even tried to reinstall and repair the game approximately 1 hour ago.
Me (25/1/2021, 14:31:05): Battlefield 3 (PC)
Agent (25/1/2021, 14:32:51): Alright. Let me check the case.
Me (25/1/2021, 14:33:11): ok
Me (25/1/2021, 14:35:34): Btw, I have the Limited Edition which includes Back to Karkand in the game installation. So apparently it's not treated as a separate DLC.
Agent (25/1/2021, 14:40:37): Alright!
Agent (25/1/2021, 14:40:50): May I have the email linked with the EA?
Me (25/1/2021, 14:41:02): *** 
Agent (25/1/2021, 14:42:00): Thank you!
Agent (25/1/2021, 14:44:00): Thanks for waiting. I made some changes on your account, please do the fresh login and restart the PC and then try to launch the game it should work,
Agent (25/1/2021, 14:44:18): I just granted new karkand.
Me (25/1/2021, 14:44:49): OK fresh login both on Origin and Battlelog after PC restart?
Agent (25/1/2021, 14:45:45): Yes.
Me (25/1/2021, 14:46:07): Ok, I'll try that. Thanks for your help

After that I logged out of Battelog and Origin, rebooted the PC, logged back into Battlelog and Origin and I was finally able to join B2K servers again.

[UKF-CromeBull9 · Accepted solution]

My issue is now sorted, I reinstalled the game on my C Drive (ssd), originally it was in my D Drive (hdd).  Everything is now working, I can play on any map from any DLC.

Not sure if it made a difference when I installed the game onto the same drive as the Origin client (C) or if what EA did there end sorted the problem.

thanks for any replies 😁

[Nicky1LB]

I have the same problem it happened to me few days ago and tried every possible thing and still nothing the game is stuck at [joining server] . after 5 mins it shows an error code saying [game not stating]  with some tips to fix it, I did all that they rote about 

.make sure all driver are up to date 

.restart origin 

.repair the game in origin 

.restart your computer

I even search the web for some help and nothing changed please I need fix it !

[FunkynootZ]

Try moving the install out of your program files folder. I fixed it by moving the game to C:\OriginLibrary\Battlefield3\