Fix: Apex Legends Crashing without Error

Apex Legends is a free to play battle royale that was developed by Electronic Arts and published by Respawn entertainment. The game was released in the February of 2019 and instantly became a huge sensation among the gaming community. However, quite recently a lot of reports have been coming in of users who are unable to play the game because it crashes whenever launched. The game does not display any error message and just fails to launch.

Apex Legends Cover

What Causes Apex Legends to Crash?

We investigated the problem after it was brought to our attention by numerous users and devised a set of solutions that solved the issue for most of the users. Also, we looked into the reasons due to which this problem was being triggered and they are listed below.

  • Easy Anti-Cheat Service: Most online games use the Easy AntiCheat Service to prevent players from using hacks or modifications to the game. The service scans the computer for any running applications and if a suspicious application is running the game does not launch. Also, if the Easy AntiCheat Service is corrupted or damaged the game does not launch because it requires verification from the service.
  • Missing Files: In some cases, certain files of the game can go missing or corrupt. The game requires all of its files to be present and intact even if one file is missing or has gone corrupt the game might face issues during the launching process.
  • Graphics Card Drivers: If the graphics card drivers installed on the system are old or have not been updated it can cause issues with the game. The game was released quite recently and is known to cause issues with older graphics cards and drivers.
  • Overclock: In some cases, if the graphics card is running at a frequency greater than the factory settings for the base clock frequency the game might face issues with the launching process. Overclocking may cause temperature spikes and in some cases, the process can even interfere with certain elements of the game.
  • Missing/Corrupted System Files: If important Windows files are missing or have been corrupted the game will not launch properly and crash during the process. The game requires all of the necessary system files to be present to function correctly.
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Now that you have a basic understanding of the nature of the problem we will move on towards the solutions. It is recommended for you to implement these solutions in the specific order they are presented in.

Pre-requisite: Checking System Requirements

Before we start our troubleshooting process, you should make sure that your PC meets the minimum requirements meant for the game. Even though the game will run on the minimum requirements, we recommend that you have the recommended requirements. Here are the minimum requirements:

Minimum System Requirements

OS: 64-bit Windows 7

CPU: Intel Core i3-6300 3.8GHz / AMD FX-4350 4.2 GHz Quad-Core Processor

RAM: 6GB

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 / Radeon HD 7730

VRAM: 1 GB

Storage: Minimum 22 GB of free space

Here are the recommended requirements:

Recommended System Requirements

OS: 64-bit Windows 7

CPU: Intel i5 3570K or equivalent

RAM: 8GB

GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 / AMD Radeon R9 290

VRAM: 8GB

Storage: Minimum 22 GB of free space

Solution 1: Repairing Easy AntiCheat Service

If the Easy AntiCheat Service is corrupted or damaged the game does not launch because it requires verification from the service. Therefore, in this step, we are going to repair the service. For that:

  1. Navigate to “Program Files(x86)” and open the “Origin” folder.
    Opening the game installation folder.
  2. Open the “Apex Legends” folder and then the “Easy AntiCheat” one.
  3. Double click on the “EasyAntiCheat_setup.exe” to open it.
    Opening the Easy AntiCheat Service
  4. Select “Apex Legends” from the list of games and click on “Repair”.
    Selecting Apex Legends From the Dropdown and clicking on Repair
  5. After the repairing process finishes, click on “Finish
  6. Run the game and check to see if the issue persists.

Solution 2: Verifying Game Files

In some cases, certain files of the game can go missing or corrupt. The game requires all of its files to be present and intact even if one file is missing or has gone corrupt the game might face issues during the launching process. Therefore, in this step, we are going to verify all the game files through the origin client.

  1. Open the Origin client and sign in to your account.
  2. Click on the “My Game Library” option on the left pane.
    Clicking on ‘My Game Library” in the left pane.
  3. Right-click on Apex Legends and select the “Repair” option.
    Right-Clicking on Apex Legends and selecting “Repair”
  4. Wait for the game to finalize the repairing process.
  5. Run the game and check to see if the problem persists.

Solution 3: SFC Scan

An “SFC Scan” scans all the system files and looks for any corrupt or missing files. If there it finds any corrupt or missing ones it automatically replaces them with functional ones. Therefore, in this step, we are going to conduct an SFC scan. For that.

  1. Click on the “Search Bar” and type in “Command Prompt“.
  2. Right-click on the icon and select “Run as Administrator“.
  3. Type in “sfc/scannow” and press enter.
    Typing “sfc/scannow” in the command prompt.
  4. Wait for the process to finish, run the game and check to see if the problem persists.

Solution 4: Disabling Overclocking

In some cases, if the graphics card is running at a frequency greater than the factory settings for the base clock frequency the game might face issues with the launching process. Overclocking may cause temperature spikes and in some cases, the process can even interfere with certain elements of the game. Therefore, it is recommended that you remove the overclock from your graphics card and make sure that it is running at the factoryBase Clock Frequency” and “Memory Clock Frequency“.

Solution 5: Updating Graphics Card Drivers

 If the graphics card drivers installed on the system are old or have not been updated it can cause issues with the game. Therefore, in this step, we are going to be updating the graphics card drivers to the latest version provided by the developer. For that

For Nvidia Users:

  1. Click on the Search bar on the left-hand side of the taskbar
    Search bar
  2. Type in Geforce Experience and press enter
  3. Click on the first icon to open the application
    Opening Geforce Experience
  4. After signing in, click on the “Drivers” option on the top left.
  5. In that Tab, Click on the “Check for Updates” option on the top right
  6. After that, the application will check if new updates are available
    Checking for Updates
  7. If the updates are available a “Download” button will appear
    Click on the Download button
  8. Once you click on that the driver will begin to download
  9. After the Driver is downloaded the application will give you the option for “Express” or “Custom” installation.
  10. Click on the “Express” installation option and the Driver will automatically be installed
  11. After the installation is completed, run the game and check to see if the problem persists.

For AMD Users:

  1. RightClick on the Desktop and select AMD Radeon Settings
    Opening AMD Radeon Settings
  2. In the Settings, click on Updates in the lower right corner
    Clicking on Updates
  3. Click on “Check For Updates
    Clicking on “Checking for Updates”
  4. If a new update is available a new option will appear
  5. Click on the option and select Update
    Clicking on “Update Now”
  6. The AMD installer will start, click on Upgrade when the installer prompts you to
  7. The installer will now get the package ready, check all the boxes and click on Install
  8. This will now download the new driver and install it automatically
  9. Restart your computer and try to run the game.

Solution 6: Linking New Steam Account

The very first step in our troubleshooting process is linking a different Steam account with the game. We came across numerous instances where the current Steam account seemed to be not working properly and when a user linked a newer account; the ‘not loading’ problem solved. Make sure that you have a spare email address on hand so we can easily create the Steam account.

  1. Navigate to the Official Steam Account website and create one.
  2. Now, open the browser from which you connected your Steam account with the game and open its history. Once in the History, search for the following URL:

https://accounts.respawn.com/steam_login.php?securityToken

Searching history for URL

 

  1. Open the corresponding link, you will come across a page like this. Click on the button of Sign-in using Steam.
  2. Now, log in to Steam using the new account which we just created. Restart your computer and launch Apex Legends again. Check if the issue is resolved for good.

Solution 7: Making New Game Account

Another thing to try before we indulge in more technical solutions is creating a new game account on Apex Legends and running it from there. According to numerous reports from our users, we found out that the game account also sometimes got corrupt due to which the user was not able to launch the game in any way. In the backend, the required information is not being fetched in your game’s account configuration.

The issue also leaves a trail on ‘Cloud’ accounts which automatically fetch data of the user from cloud storage. If due to some reason, the cloud is not able to connect with the servers, your game appears to be stuck. For tackling both cases, make sure that you ‘disable’ cloud account and if you don’t have a cloud account, try creating a new one and see if it works.

Solution 8: Resetting Network Cache and Configurations

Everything that connects to the internet uses network cache and its configurations to operate properly. If your network configurations and cache are somehow corrupt or have bad data, you will experience numerous problems including not being able to load Facebook images.

What we can do here is resetting the network settings and cache and see if this works. We will also be resetting your DHCP settings.

Note: This will erase all the custom settings which you have set manually.

  1. Press Windows + R, type “command prompt” in the dialogue box, right-click on the application and select “Run as administrator”.
  2. Once in an elevated command prompt, execute the following commands one by one:
ipconfig /release

ipconfig /renew

ipconfig /flushdns

netsh winsock reset

net stop dhcp

net start dhcp

netsh winhttp reset proxy
Resetting Network Configurations
  1. Restart your computer completely after resetting your network and check if the issue is resolved.

Solution 9: Resetting Network

If the above-mentioned steps don’t work and you are still unable to load Apex Legends successfully, we will troubleshoot your network. There are numerous instances where because of bad configurations of your router, the information will not be transmitted properly.

There might also be the case where the internet is working on other devices but not in the game itself. This might be true because of some corrupt configurations in your router. Here, we will reset your router and see if this fixes the problem.

Make sure that you have the necessary credentials at hand so you can configure the router again according to your ISP guidelines.

  1. Make sure that your router is connected to the power supply. Look behind it for a small button for reset or see for a small hole.
  2. If there is a hole, use a small pin and keep pressing the reset button for 10-15 seconds.
Resetting Router
  1. After resetting your router, restart your computer and after connecting to the network, launch the game.

Solution 10: Setting Google’s DNS

If none of the above methods work and you are still unable to load Apex Legends, we will try changing your DNS server. Domain Name Servers are used a little in the game. However, if they are completely unreachable, the game will not load and will get stuck on the loading screen. Furthermore, you might also notice frequent latency spikes as well.

Once we change your DNS, the changes will be reflected in other applications as well. If this doesn’t work out for you and you are still unable to load the game, you can easily revert the changes which we just made.

  1. After pressing Windows + R, type “control panel” and press Enter.
  2. Now click on “Network and Sharing Center” once the new Window opens.
    Network and Sharing Center – Control Panel
  3. All the networks which your computer is currently connected to will be listed here. Click on the current connection which you are using to play Apex Legends.
    Opening current Network
  4. Now click on “Properties” present at the near bottom of the small window which pops up.
Network properties
  1. Double-click on “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)” so we can change the DNS server.
  2. Now select Use the following DNS server addresses and type the following values after the fields become editable:
Preferred DNS server: 8.8.8.8

Alternate DNS server: 8.8.4.4
Changing DNS Settings
  1. Press OK to save changes and exit. Restart your computer properly and wait for a few seconds before launching the game. Check if this solved our issue.

Solution 11: Reinstalling Origin

Origin is the game distributor of Apex Legends. It is a client similar to Steam and allows publishes to list their game in the game manager so users can easily download it and play on the go. Even though it is rare, we came across numerous instances where because of corrupt Origin, Apex Legends was not loading.

In this article, we will copy the Apex Legends file first from the directory, reinstall Origin and paste it back. This way the client will be reinstalled without you having to reinstall the game as well which we just did earlier on.

  1. Copy Apex Legends from Origin’s base folder and paste it to some other drive. Now, press Windows + R, type “appwiz.cpl” in the dialogue box and press Enter. Locate Origin, right-click on it and select Uninstall.
  2. Once the application is uninstalled, navigate to Origin and download the game manager again to an accessible location.
    Repairing Apex Legends
  3. Now, copy Apex Legends back into the new installation directory and restart your computer again. Check if the issue is resolved for good.

Tip: Also keep an eye out for official Origin/Apex Legends feedback on the matter. Sometimes this is a server problem and is usually fixed after a while automatically.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kevin Arrows


Kevin Arrows is a highly experienced and knowledgeable technology specialist with over a decade of industry experience. He holds a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certification and has a deep passion for staying up-to-date on the latest tech developments. Kevin has written extensively on a wide range of tech-related topics, showcasing his expertise and knowledge in areas such as software development, cybersecurity, and cloud computing. His contributions to the tech field have been widely recognized and respected by his peers, and he is highly regarded for his ability to explain complex technical concepts in a clear and concise manner.