Quick answer

[Corroborated community report] Multiple players have described a server beginning to load and then returning them to the main menu. Test several rooms, then compare public joining, private joining, and hosting. If every path fails, preserve the evidence instead of applying increasingly invasive network changes.

[Unverified] The reviewed official announcements do not provide a universal repair or identify one cause for this symptom. A room showing 0/10 may be a useful clue, but it is not proof of a particular server or network fault.

This is an unofficial review draft verified on 2026-08-12. The failure was not personally reproduced for this draft.

Classify the failure first

  1. Restart Steam and the game after all downloads finish. Note the exact update label rather than assuming the visible announcement label follows a normal sequence.
  2. Try one populated public room and one different public room. Record room name, displayed player count, and whether the game reaches the map before returning to the menu.
  3. Try a friend-hosted private room. If private joining works, the problem is not a total inability to join multiplayer.
  4. Create a room yourself. Check whether your own lobby shows the host as present and whether a friend can enter.
  5. Stop after this matrix: public join, private join, host. It distinguishes one-room failure from a broader registration or connection symptom.

Low-risk integrity check

  1. Restart the computer and launch Steam.
  2. In the Steam Library, open MECCHA CHAMELEON Properties, select Installed Files, and choose Verify integrity of game files.
  3. Wait for verification to finish without running another disk-intensive task. Steam notes that one or more local configuration files can fail verification normally.
  4. Retest the same three-path matrix once. Verification checks installed files; it does not prove that a network or account problem is fixed.

What current evidence actually establishes

[Official] The store page says public matches are supported, non-private servers can be joined freely, and recommended room size is 2-10 players subject to the host's network environment.

[Corroborated community report] One thread has ten same-symptom confirmations for long loading, disconnect, or a return to the menu. Another detailed report says public and private joining failed, the user's hosted room displayed 0/10, and friends were also returned to the menu.

[Community report] The detailed user had already tried reinstalling, file verification, EOS cache clearing, Epic account linking, DirectX 11, a mobile hotspot, and other changes without a fix. That report is evidence that those actions are not guaranteed; it does not prove they can never help another configuration.

Do not treat these as confirmed fixes

[Unverified] The detailed thread does not prove that an Epic account denial caused the failure, that a 0/10 room identifies a backend-registration bug, or that EOS cache deletion is appropriate for the current build.

Do not disable the firewall, open arbitrary router ports, link unrelated accounts, delete caches manually, or reinstall Windows without official diagnostics tying the action to your failure. A mobile hotspot is a reversible comparison test, but a successful or failed result still needs interpretation.

Evidence package for support

  1. Capture the room list before selecting a room, including player count.
  2. Record the time from selecting Join until the menu reappears and whether an error message appears.
  3. Record results for public join, private join, and hosting, plus whether the host is counted in a newly created room.
  4. List Windows version, CPU, GPU, network type, game/update label, and every prior troubleshooting action.
  5. State whether single-player works and whether other Steam multiplayer games work; do not claim that either result rules out a game-specific issue.