Football Manager 27 Failed to Load il2cpp: What Works, From SI Staff Steps to Event ID 3077

Find the blocked file first. Open Event Viewer, go to Applications and Services Logs, Microsoft, Windows, CodeIntegrity, Operational, and look for Event ID 3077 around the time the launch failed. Add a Windows Security exclusion for the file it names. Then run the four steps Sports Interactive staff posted: turn off Windows Smart App Control, add antivirus or Windows Security exclusions, verify the game files in Steam, and repair or reinstall the Microsoft Visual C++ redistributable. If the game still fails, go back to SEGA's generic crash list and send a support ticket with the Event 3077 details attached.

il2cpp is the runtime Football Manager 27 uses to start its Unity build. If Windows Smart App Control or another Code Integrity check treats a file as untrusted, the runtime never loads, and you get that fatal error, or a silent exit at the same point in the boot sequence. The full dialog reads "Fatal Error — Failed to load il2cpp." A Windows message that reads "Part of this app has been blocked by smart app control" is related, but it is a system dialog, not the Unity popup. A crash after the loading text flips to Japanese or Chinese characters can be the same block, or a completely different problem, which is why the Event ID 3077 check comes first.

This is the most precise first step, and the risk is low: you only read a log, then add an exception for a file you already installed. One player has been posting this method since 3 November and spelled it out again on 12 November, on the "Can't load the game" thread.

On 11 November 2026, SI staff member zachary.whyte, the same account that pins the "Problem with FM27? Please READ" thread, replied to a Fatal Error Failed to load il2cpp post with four steps. On 30 October, during Launch Preview, the same account gave almost the same advice to a player who described a fatal popup with "failed to load il2cpp".

The staff list puts Smart App Control first, but the lower-risk order is the one in this guide: identify the blocked file first, try a Windows Security exclusion, and only then consider turning Smart App Control off.

Microsoft's Smart App Control FAQ is official: the feature blocks apps it cannot confidently trust, and there is currently no way to let through a single app. You either turn the feature off, or the developer signs the file so Windows will trust it.

How well it works on FM27 is still mixed. Several staff posts treat it as the first step, and older Unity il2cpp threads describe turning it off as the thing that finally worked. In the current FM27 threads, one player who hit the fatal error on 11 November had already verified files and used --purge_settings, and still had Smart App Control enabled, so those generic steps were not a fair test of this one. One Launch Preview report is more cautious: a player who saw "Part of this app has been blocked by smart app control" wrote that disabling the feature made no difference.

SEGA's official Crashes page, last updated 29 October 2026, never names il2cpp, Smart App Control, or Event ID 3077, but its folder exclusions still matter, because Smart App Control is not the only thing that can grab the game. Exclude these folders from your antivirus:

Several players said a version of this got them back in, including one who suddenly could not boot after setting up face and logo packs and fixed it by marking the Sports Interactive folder as safe in Windows Security and the firewall. It is not a sure thing: one player who crashed at the loading text said they had already allowed the game through the firewall and still had to give up and go back to FM24. The risk is low if you only add exclusions. Do not turn the whole antivirus off and leave it off.

Two bcdedit commands that turn off the hypervisor launch type and VBS launch type circulated in late October, copied from another game's thread. A few players in the long "Game starts crashing after Loading Screen" thread said those lines got them past a loading-screen crash. Others, including a player who only got a black screen and no window, said they did not help. SI staff replied that they would not highly recommend the step, because it puts the PC at a security risk. Nobody in the threads tied those commands to the "Fatal Error — Failed to Load il2cpp" dialog. If you already ran them and they did nothing, the undo is bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype auto and bcdedit /deletevalue vsmlaunchtype. Do not start here.

The Steam private_beta branch was a temporary Launch Preview fix for some crash-on-launch cases. After the 10 November 27.0.1 update, it is not the first place to go unless you are still on that older build.

A thread titled "Game crashes after the chinese loading text show up" filled up during Launch Preview. Many people hit a wall at the Chinese or Japanese loading UI. One player wrote that the game had been blocked for everyone at 06:00 GMT and was already patched, and several then said it was working again. That was largely a server or access cut around the end of the free preview, not the current fatal error. The original poster did come back on 12 November to say that after the newest update it was broken again, so a loading-text crash today is still worth checking in Event Viewer. It is not, by itself, proof you have the 3 November incident.

Sometimes there is no dialog: the logos play, the loading text switches into Japanese or Chinese characters, and the game just closes. That can be the same Code Integrity block, which is why Event ID 3077 is still the first check, or a completely different problem. If Event Viewer is clean, go back to the generic official list in the next section.

If Event Viewer is clean, or the exclusion and Smart App Control steps do not clear the popup, go back to the generic official list: verify the game files in Steam, repair the Visual C++ redistributables (staff recommended this for the il2cpp error, though players have not independently confirmed it on FM27 for this popup), and only then try --purge_settings or a fresh cache. If nothing works, send a ticket to SEGA support. Attach the Code Integrity Event 3077, including the blocked file name, and say what you already tried. That is more useful than a generic "the game won't start" report.

This guide was written against version 27.0.1, with error reports from 11–12 November 2026, last checked 13 November

2026. A future Sports Interactive patch may fix the underlying signing problem and make these steps unnecessary. If a patch lands, this guide will be updated to say so.

Q: Is this error caused by a bad save? A: No. It happens before the game loads any save. It is a Windows block on the runtime at startup.

Q: Does reinstalling the game fix it? A: SI staff list verifying files and repairing Visual C++ before reinstalling. Reinstalling alone does not change whether Windows trusts the file.

Q: I turned Smart App Control off and it still fails. What next? A: Check Event ID 3077 for the blocked file and exclude that file specifically, then try the SEGA folder exclusions. One Launch Preview report says disabling the feature made no difference for that player.

Q: Is the bcdedit fix safe? A: SI staff would not highly recommend it, because it puts the PC at a security risk, and nobody tied it to the il2cpp dialog. Do not start there.