[Windows 10] Unable to join or be joined in Multiplayer

[Thales von Dasos]

Whenever I try to join a multiplayer match or when a friend tries to join one I host, the game stops responding for the joining person (so either me or my friend). After several minutes of not responding it says "Game not found". This happens to me both when trying to join my friend's game or a random game. (A clean reinstall didn't change anything)

 

[AndrewT]

Has MP ever worked for you with this game? Or never yet?

What version and checksum do you see in the MP lobby, when loaded with no mods active?

 

[Thales von Dasos]

Has MP ever worked for you with this game? Or never yet?

What version and checksum do you see in the MP lobby, when loaded with no mods active?

Yes, it used to work a few months ago (I just returned to the game recently after taking a break).

The version is v1.30.4.0 Austria (5d62)

 

[AndrewT]

Sorry, I should have made clear - both you AND your friend see that identical version and checksum in the MP lobby?

 

[Thales von Dasos]

yes

 

[AndrewT]

Do either of you happen to use an MP helper app called GameFirst? If so please unload it, it can cause this.

 

[Thales von Dasos]

No, neither of us uses this

 

[AndrewT]

Our similar game Crusader Kings 2 is free to play on Steam now. Does it have the same problem?

This is to see if you have a general problem, or just confined to EU4.

And, can either of you play with any third person? This is to see which of you two has the problem.

 

[Thales von Dasos]

Tried CK2 with friend, same problem (game not responding when trying to join, then "game not found").
My friends can play EU4 with each other in multiplayer

 

[AndrewT]

Okay, so you have a local issue of some sort.

Check that all these Steam ports are open (not forwarded) in all your firewalls:

Steam Support :: Required Ports for Steam

support.steampowered.com

 

[Thales von Dasos]

As far as I can tell, they are open in the firewall

 

[AndrewT]

You probably have the Windows Defender firewall active, make sure eu4.exe, ck2game.exe and steam.exe are allowed through in the Public and Private Domains there.

 

[Thales von Dasos]

I've looked and they were already allowed

 

[AndrewT]

Are you connected wired or wireless? Whichever one, can you try the other?

Do you have any other local machine to test this on? This is to see if it's an issue in this machine, or your local network.

 

[Thales von Dasos]

I'm currently wired, but I tried wifi as well and I also tried on my laptop, all to no avail

 

[AndrewT]

I see, so it's very likely a network issue - internet router/modem or ISP.

Can you take your laptop to another network and see if it has the same problem there?

 

[Thales von Dasos]

I've tried it out at a different network and it worked fine

 

[AndrewT]

Alright! It must be your local network (modem/router) or your ISP then.

Can you check with your ISP that they don't block any of those Steam ports, in either UDP or TCP?