Unable to initialize connection to Steam

Caecus0 · July 13

Despite that I am opening the game through Steam, I am getting the error message "Unable to initialize connection to Steam. Please ensure the game was launched through Steam or try again later."

The game worked fine before the expansion. I took a hiatus for a bit and came back after the release of the new expansion, and now I'm seeing this error. I have never seen this error before. I've tried the troubleshooting steps and so far it has not worked. Anyone else having issues with this? Or is there anyone who can share their wisdom with me if they solved a similar problem?

UPDATE: I think found a fix.

Apparently logging out of Steam and back in worked. Restarting my PC didn't do anything because it would automatically remember my PC and login upon opening the application.

When I logged out and back in, and detected my computer as another PC, despite it being the same PC. I went through the authentication steps to log in to Steam, and now I can log in to ESO just fine (even when it isn't in admin).

I hope this helps anyone else who runs into this problem.

UPDATE 2: The fix I found didn't stick. The problem returned.

ZOS_Kraken · July 13

@Caecus0 Please make sure you have tried all of the troubleshooting steps we have for this issue.

WHAT DO I DO IF I'M GETTING A "LOGIN ERROR: UNABLE TO INITIALIZE CONNECTION TO STEAM" MESSAGE FOR THE ELDER SCROLLS ONLINE?

If these steps are unable to assist you, please reach out to support for assistance.

Caecus0 · July 14

ZOS_Kraken wrote: »

@Caecus0 Please make sure you have tried all of the troubleshooting steps we have for this issue.

WHAT DO I DO IF I'M GETTING A "LOGIN ERROR: UNABLE TO INITIALIZE CONNECTION TO STEAM" MESSAGE FOR THE ELDER SCROLLS ONLINE?

If these steps are unable to assist you, please reach out to support for assistance.

Running Steam as Administrator works, but I got a popup message from Steam saying certain applications will not work correctly. Is there a work around to this? Why does ESO need Steam to run as Admin suddenly to play?

Caecus0 · July 14

UPDATE: I found a fix.

Apparently logging out of Steam and back in worked. Restarting my PC didn't do anything because it would automatically remember my PC upon logging in.

When I logged out and back in, and detected my computer as another PC, despite it being the same PC. I went through the authentication steps and now I can log in to ESO just fine (even when it isn't in admin).

Not sure why that worked but hey, I'll take it.

Thank you @ZOS_Kraken for trying.

Caecus0 · July 14

Nevermind. The fix didn't stick. The problem returned logging in today.

ZOS_Phoenix · July 15

@Caecus0

In that case, have you tried opening a ticket with our support team? If so, could you please provide the ticket number here?

Caecus0 · October 16

So I ended up figuring it out for real this time.

I have always ran ESO as Administrator, because I notice a pretty significant performance boost doing so. I never had to run Steam as Administrator.

Now, if I run one as Administrator, I have to run the other as Administrator. By running Steam as Admin, I was able to play the game. If I DON'T run Steam as Admin, I have to also NOT run ESO as Administrator.

I would prefer to not have to run Steam as Admin, but I currently have to run ESO as Admin or the performance noticeably takes a dip. I'm not sure why it suddenly matters, but there it is.