diff --git a/src/game_launch.rs b/src/game_launch.rs
index 7a6d752..bb53eb7 100644
--- a/src/game_launch.rs
+++ b/src/game_launch.rs
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 //! falls back to it, so an existing working setup cannot be broken by upgrading.
 
 use parking_lot::Mutex;
+use std::collections::BTreeMap;
 use std::io::{BufRead, BufReader};
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 use std::process::{Child, Command, Stdio};
@@ -67,6 +68,7 @@ pub fn launch(
     for (k, v) in &profile.env {
         cmd.env(k, v);
     }
+    cmd.env("WINEDLLOVERRIDES", hook_dll_overrides(&profile.env));
     if !profile.wine_prefix.trim().is_empty() {
         cmd.env("WINEPREFIX", &profile.wine_prefix);
     }
@@ -93,6 +95,30 @@ pub fn launch(
     Ok(())
 }
 
+/// The `WINEDLLOVERRIDES` value the game must be started with.
+///
+/// The hook ships as a `version.dll` proxy inside the game directory, and Proton
+/// prefers a local DLL over its own builtin ONLY when `WINEDLLOVERRIDES` names it
+/// (see `setup::STEAM_LAUNCH_OPTIONS`). Steam users get that from their launch
+/// options; when the launcher spawns the runner itself, nothing else supplies it.
+///
+/// Without it the failure is silent and badly misleading: the hook never loads, so
+/// the `openfut.cfg` the launcher just wrote is inert, the game ignores the
+/// configured Blaze ports, and `/etc/hosts` quietly routes it to whatever answers
+/// on EA's real ports. It looks like a working launch against the configured
+/// server while actually talking to a different one.
+///
+/// A profile that already pins `version=` wins: an operator overriding the hijack
+/// deliberately must not be silently overruled.
+fn hook_dll_overrides(env: &BTreeMap<String, String>) -> String {
+    const HOOK: &str = "version=n,b";
+    match env.get("WINEDLLOVERRIDES").map(|v| v.trim()) {
+        Some(existing) if existing.contains("version=") => existing.to_string(),
+        Some(existing) if !existing.is_empty() => format!("{existing};{HOOK}"),
+        _ => HOOK.to_string(),
+    }
+}
+
 /// Create the Wine prefix's `dosdevices` entries the profile asks for.
 ///
 /// Equivalent to `mkdir -p $WINEPREFIX/dosdevices && ln -sfn <target> <link>`:
@@ -463,4 +489,32 @@ mod tests {
         let err = launch(&profile, &log(), || {}).unwrap_err().to_string();
         assert!(err.contains("game_dir does not exist"), "{err}");
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_profile_without_overrides_still_gets_the_hook_hijack() {
+        // The regression this guards: FIFA launched from the launcher ignored the
+        // configured Blaze ports entirely, because Proton loaded its own builtin
+        // version.dll and the hook proxy never ran. The launch looked healthy.
+        assert_eq!(hook_dll_overrides(&BTreeMap::new()), "version=n,b");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn unrelated_overrides_are_preserved_and_appended_to() {
+        let env = BTreeMap::from([("WINEDLLOVERRIDES".to_string(), "d3d11=n".to_string())]);
+        assert_eq!(hook_dll_overrides(&env), "d3d11=n;version=n,b");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn an_explicit_version_override_is_never_overruled() {
+        // An operator disabling the hijack on purpose must win, otherwise the
+        // setting is a lie.
+        let env = BTreeMap::from([("WINEDLLOVERRIDES".to_string(), "version=b".to_string())]);
+        assert_eq!(hook_dll_overrides(&env), "version=b");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_blank_override_is_treated_as_absent_rather_than_appended_to() {
+        let env = BTreeMap::from([("WINEDLLOVERRIDES".to_string(), "   ".to_string())]);
+        assert_eq!(hook_dll_overrides(&env), "version=n,b");
+    }
 }