Lost Ark's latest bug can be "game-breaking" and the only fix is to "fully restart"

Lost Ark May Update
(Image credit: Smilegate)

Lost Ark players have stumbled upon a "game-breaking bug" that prevents affected players from advancing in the game.

Although it appears to strike at random times, one particular player encountered it during a Valtan Raid, which "ruined the whole raid" as they were unable to resolve the issue without exiting the game.

The issue? Well, it looks as though since the May update, players are finding that their mouse pointer is "sticking" to menu items, making it difficult to see what's happening on screen, and impossible to do anything else.

game_breaking_valtan_bug_ruined_the_whole_raid_by from r/lostarkgame

Stating that a "GAME BREAKING VALTAN BUG ruined the whole raid by not being able to click !!!", Redditor Sagezu posted a video that showed the issue happening in the middle of the raid. It prompted several comments from other players who report having encountered a similar issue, albeit maybe not at such a crucial time as the OP.

Whilst some have found ways to temporarily solve the problem, it seems that the only way to prevent it from coming straight back is to quit the game completely.

"No, it comes right back unless you fully restart," confirmed another player. "At least that has been my experience. Changing characters removes the item from your cursor, but the instant you try to use one again, it happens again."

We'll keep you posted and hope that developer Smilegate is able to resolve the issue sooner rather than later.

Lost Ark may not have been out that long, but it's already one of the biggest games to ever hit Steam. Within 24 hours of release, it clocked up so many players that it now boasts the second-highest concurrent peak ever on Steam, so if Lost Ark's phenomenal success has taken you by surprise, you may find Ali's article, What is Lost Ark and Why Is It Blowing up on Steam? a helpful read.

ICYMI, Lost Ark players without verified Steam accounts "in good standing" may find their accounts restricted as part of Smilegate's ongoing battle against bots.

Smilegate has "been hard at work on crafting effective tools and methods to identify and remove bots from the game", banning over a million "bot" accounts from its servers in March and earlier this month, it released Valtan, Lost Ark's first Legion raid, onto western servers later this month.

Lost Ark is not the only game to have frustrated players this week, though. According to a new post on the Nintendo Switch subreddit, it looks like a "game-breaking bug" is preventing some players from advancing through Kirby 64, too.

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Vikki Blake
Weekend Reporter, GamesRadar+

Vikki Blake is GamesRadar+'s Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter.