This one predates Early Access by three weeks
The oldest public thread reporting 0xc0000142 against WARDOGS was opened on 21 August 2026, during the closed beta. Early Access opened on 10 September. That gap is the most useful fact on this page and it is the one every other site omits: a page presenting this as a launch fault is wrong about when it started, and any explanation built on launch-day load is explaining something that was already happening when a few thousand people had access.
Where it fails
0xc0000142 is a Windows error — the application was unable to start correctly — and is not specific to this game. What the WARDOGS reports add is the moment: they describe it arriving as the anti-cheat starts, before the game window opens. Player theories in the thread about DLL injection are theories, and are recorded here as theories rather than repeated as cause.
The reports name Easy Anti-Cheat. The official terms rule it out
This is the part worth checking before following any advice you find for this code. The August threads name Easy Anti-Cheat, and the fullest public WARDOGS error table — published by a ping-booster vendor, dated to the closed-beta window — attributes 0xc0000142 to EAC and prescribes repairing it. Steam's current listing names Elytra and labels the anti-cheat kernel-level. The WARDOGS-specific terms go further: they explicitly say the game does not use Easy Anti-Cheat and that references to EAC in the wider terms do not apply to it. They do not say when a historical change occurred or diagnose this error.
What is not established
No cause. BULKHEAD has published nothing about 0xc0000142, and nothing in the thread was confirmed by the studio. This site has not reproduced the failure. What the record supports is the string, the date it was first reported, the stage it interrupts, and the fact that the advice in circulation rests on an anti-cheat attribution that the store page contradicts.
Common questions
Why does WARDOGS crash on launch with 0xc0000142?
No cause has been published. The reports describe it arriving as the anti-cheat starts, and the oldest is dated 21 August 2026 — during the closed beta, three weeks before Early Access.
Should I repair Easy Anti-Cheat to fix WARDOGS 0xc0000142?
No official WARDOGS source recommends that. The current terms explicitly say the game does not use Easy Anti-Cheat, while Steam names Elytra and labels it kernel-level. Neither BULKHEAD nor Team17 has published a fix for this code.
Is 0xc0000142 a WARDOGS error?
It is a Windows error that WARDOGS players report. It is not specific to this game, which is why the useful detail is the stage it interrupts rather than the number itself.
Sources & verification
Each source below carries its own read date and its own boundary note. A Steam thread establishes that a string exists and when it was first reported; it does not establish a cause.
| Source | Type | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Steam · “Error 0xc0000142”, WARDOGS discussionsOpened 21 August, during the closed beta — three weeks before Early Access. The reports describe the failure arriving as the anti-cheat starts, and name Easy Anti-Cheat, which is not the product Steam's current listing names. Player theories about DLL injection are theories. | Unverified | 2026-09-12 |
| Steam · WARDOGS official store listing | Publisher stated | 2026-09-11 |
| WARDOGS · EULA and Terms of Service, updated 10 September 2026The WARDOGS-specific addendum says the game does not use Easy Anti-Cheat and that references to Easy Anti-Cheat or EAC in the wider terms do not apply to WARDOGS. It also says the anti-cheat software may later be changed, supplemented or replaced. It does not identify which named component produces a particular error. | Publisher stated | 2026-09-15 |
| LagoFast · “All WARDOGS Error Codes: How to Fix 1147405308, 1147405309, 1628505085, and More”, updated 26 August 2026The fullest public WARDOGS error table, and the one whose interests need declaring twice. It is published by a ping-booster vendor whose recommended first step for the login codes is its own paid product; it is dated to the closed-beta window rather than the shipping build; and it attributes three rows — 0xc0000142, 0xc000007b and the shader crash — to Easy Anti-Cheat, prescribing “Repair EAC”. Steam’s listing names Elytra. It is the only public source for 1628505085. | Unverified | 2026-09-13 |