How to fix the Epic Games socket open error

The Epic Games launcher is home to many titles, including Fortnite and Rocket League. You’ll need to log into the Epic Games launcher before you can start playing any of the games on the platform.

While logging in looks like a simple process, it may not always go smoothly. Players can stumble onto errors and bugs, like the socket open error, that can prevent them from logging into their Epic Games accounts.

Such errors often appear whenever there’s a server outage, but they can also show up due to internet connectivity issues on your end. Here’s what you can do to try to fix the Epic Games socket open error.

Check the server status of Epic Games’ services

If Epic’s servers are down, the developer will update its official status webpage with relevant information. If you see an outage on status.epicgames.com, you’ll simply need to wait for Epic to roll out a fix since the following troubleshooting methods won’t work.

At time of writing, there’s an ongoing server outage that’s preventing players from logging into their Epic Games accounts. The developers have already acknowledged the situation and are working on a fix.

Restart your router

If the servers are up and running, you may need to troubleshoot your home network. Local connectivity problems can also cause games and launchers to act up.

Restarting your router will be the fastest way to troubleshoot your connection since it’ll reset your route to your internet service provider (ISP), which will do the same to your connection to Epic’s servers.

Change your DNS addresses

Most players use the default DNS addresses that are often assigned by their ISPs. Like game servers, DNS servers can go down from time to time and cause players’ connections to act up.

Try changing your DNS to a more commercially available one like Google or Open DNS, and try logging into your Epic Games account again.

Try out an alternative connection

Another easy way to troubleshoot your current connection will be by using a different one. You can turn on the hotspot feature on your phone and share your mobile data plan with your gaming device.

If you can log into your account with your mobile data plan, then you’ll need to call your ISP and ask them to run a diagnostic on your home network to see if there’s anything wrong that they can spot.