Alex Dash
For the people who just want the fix: Scroll down to "Temporary fix" section
Ref Ticket ID: 344546
Action taken:
Enter any non-error world
Expected behavior:
Pass the CAPTCHA and enter a world
Actual behavior:
The world loads fine, the connection is established.
The screen flashes black, and returns to "Initializing world..." message, where it gets stuck indefinitely.
First discovery date/time:
2024-03-27 22:12:52 EDT (UTC-4)
How to reproduce:
  1. Clean install the latest game version from Steam's stable branch.
  2. Log-in using an account
    that would be expected to receive a CAPTCHA
  3. Wait for any non-error world to load (home/default/by link)
Possible direct/indirect causes:
  • D: VRC fails to request a CAPTCHA upon receiving
    {{"error":{{"message":"\"You need to pass a CAPTCHA to perform this action\"","status_code":418}}}}
  • D: Invalid type-cast for the response/captcha string (see logs)
  • I:
    Te: identity
    and
    TE: identity
    headers present for api.lab.amplitude.com requests that prevents the server from responding correctly
  • I: Confusing user tag
    system_no_captcha
    while still being presented with one. (Removing the tag on the client side doesn't fix the issue)
  • I:
    HTTP/2
    is not supported by api.epicgames.dev
Notes:
  • Api works as expected. Everything except traveling to worlds.
  • If the error world is to be triggered, changing avatars, home worlds, friends, bio etc. works as expected.
  • Cache-clears, reg-purges and reinstalls don't fix the issue.
  • Any non-error world would trigger the issue (even the default one)
  • Error prevents the affected users from playing the game at all.
Similar issues caused by the same bug:
Temporary fix:
TL;DR: Just downgrade to the previous stable. YouTube Video Guide Catbox video guide
  1. Launch steam with the developer console enabled (Create a shortcut that points to your steam.exe like so:
    "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam.exe" -dev
    )
  2. Disable automatic updates for VRChat in steam client. (Right-click->Properties->Updates->Automatic Updates) Set it to only update on launch.
  3. In the Steam developer console type this:
    download_depot 438100 438101 507458536183192843
    That would download the previous stable release (not open-beta). It would take some time. There would be no download progress, so just wait patiently.
  4. When AND ONLY WHEN you see a message "Depot download complete: ...", Navigate to your download depot folder that was displayed in the message (By default it is "
    C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\content\app_438100\depot_438101
    ")
  5. (optional) Copy the contents of the folder to your VRChat install directory to launch it via Steam. (Then skip the step 6)
  6. In the folder you would see a "launch.exe" - Double click it to launch in a default mode. (It would try connecting to SteamVR and revert back to Desktop on fail)
  7. Enjoy
Tracking info for the issue:
  • Manifest: 5273960136701801622 -- stable -- 27 March 2024 – 23:46:59 UTC - Bug Confirmed [1435]
  • Manifest: 2583688349175747990 -- open-beta -- 26 March 2024 – 22:54:02 UTC - Bug Confirmed
  • Manifest: 510747503228557963 -- open-beta -- 21 March 2024 – 23:41:01 UTC - Bug Confirmed
  • Manifest: 7899761246862613643 -- open-beta -- 15 March 2024 – 19:58:06 UTC - Bug Confirmed
  • Manifest: 6237423843004029638 -- open-beta -- 14 March 2024 – 22:19:02 UTC - Bug Confirmed [1431]
  • Manifest: 507458536183192843 -- stable -- 14 March 2024 – 21:00:04 UTC - Works fine [1407]