How to Fix the WDL020 Error in War Dogs

If you have recently fired up War Dogs hoping to play a few games, only to get the WDL020 error message, you'll be completely blown away to find out that Windows updated again and broke everything! So once again, follow along as we take you through a few different steps you can use to fix an error message that a Windows Update has recently introduced you to.

How to Fix the WDL020 Error in War Dogs

The first thing you need to do is check if the problematic Windows update is installed on your PC. You can do this directly through Windows Settings. This is an update that is known to cause issues with a few games, including War Dogs.

• Open Settings.
• Select Windows Update.
• Click Update history.
• Scroll down and select Uninstall updates.
• Look through the list for KB512410.

If KB512410 is listed, this is the update you want to remove.

• Select Uninstall next to it and follow the instructions provided by Windows.

• Once the update has been removed, restart your PC and try launching War Dogs again.

If you don't see KB512410 in the list, then the update probably isn't installed on your system, meaning you'll need to try some different steps. But for 99.9% of users, this should instantly solve the problem. If it doesn't combining it with the next step certainly will!

Here's a full guide on uninstalling Windows Updates if you want more info: How to uninstall a bad Windows 11 update. Rollback a Windows 11 update.

Verify the War Dogs game files

If removing KB512410 didn't fix the problem, the next thing I'd recommend is verifying your War Dogs installation.

• Open Steam and find War Dogs in your library.
• Right-click the game and select Properties.
• Go to Installed Files and select Verify integrity of game files.

Steam will now check all of the files installed on your PC and compare them against the current version. If anything is missing or corrupted, Steam should automatically download the required files and repair the installation. Once that's finished, start the game, and it should be working again.

Repair the War Dogs anti-cheat installation

While you're still inside the War Dogs installation folder, it's also worth repairing the game's anti-cheat software.

• In Steam, open the game's Properties and go to Installed Files.
• Click Browse in the top-right corner to open the War Dogs installation folder.
• Inside the game folder, find the Elytra folder.
• Inside this folder, you should find Elytra Setup next to the War Dogs shipping executable.
• Double-click Elytra Setup and choose Repair.

This will reinstall all the anti-cheat stuff and should fix things.

Check the game's compatibility settings

While you're in the War Dogs folder, locate the main game executable, right-click it, and select Properties.

• Open the Compatibility tab and make sure that all of the options are unchecked.
• You don't want Windows running the game using an old compatibility mode or any other compatibility settings unless the developers specifically tell you to enable them.
• Click Apply, then OK.
• There's another executable you should check as well.
• Open the War Dogs folder, then go into Binaries > Win64 and locate the War Dogs client executable.
• Right-click it, select Properties, and open the Compatibility tab again. Make sure everything is unchecked here too.

Check Steam launch options

• Finally, go back to War Dogs inside Steam and open Properties again.
• Under the General tab, look for the Launch Options section.
• Make sure there isn't anything entered in this box.

This is the least likely solution to work, but it's on the list because some people have found it works.