Had this issue on a brand new PC just built and couldn't figure it out for a few days... Since both EA's and Microsoft’ supports were of absolutely no help (I even wondered if I was speaking to real people or AIs), I eventually managed to fix the problem on my own after more than 24 actual hours of troubleshooting.
For future players facing the same issue, here’s everything I did:
What the crash window would say on Apex launch:
Dumping started...
Dump generation failed: 80070005
Code: C0000005
Address: 00007FFD23000000
RAX: 00000000c0000135 RCX: a27aeb962b63614a
RDX: 00000000e0670103 RBX: a27aeb962b63614a
RSP: 0000000000baba98 RBP: 0000000000000000
RSI: ffffffffc0000135 RDI: 446c6c440000022c
R8: a27aeb962b63614a R9: 446c6c440000022c
R10: ffffffffc0000135 R11: 0000000000bab644
R12: 000000000a7eaaf0 R13: 00007ffd234a4c60
R14: 00007ff7a2ad6000 R15: 000000000a7eaad0
If reporting this error, please include all of the above lines.
Failed.
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Fixes I tried to solve the issue (none worked):
Tried to perform a clean boot of the game.
Reinstalled the game and verified game files.
Performed a clean driver installation for both GPU and CPU.
Uninstalled all GPUs drivers trough DDU (safe mode) then reinstall.
Made sure Apex was running on dGPU.
Disabled iGPU.
Applied all available system and driver updates.
Checked and allowed Apex Legends through Windows Firewall.
Ensured antivirus software (Windows Defender) allows the game to run.
Disabled many Defender settings and ensured after restart none were the cause.
Verified file permissions for the Apex Legends folder to ensure full access.
Rebooted the system and ensured no conflicting background processes are running.
Stopped any overclocking.
Reinstalled EAC.
Reinstalled Steam, cleared Steam cache.
Tried via EA, same error occurs.
Checked missing dependencies thanks to DependencyWalker.
Cleared CMOS and turned BIOS back to factory.
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
SFC /Scannow
reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa /v RunAsPPL /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f;
reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa /v RunAsPPLBoot /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f;
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What I actually had to do:
- Realise I was using Windows 11 Pro N
- Remember that the Media Feature Pack is not packaged by default within Windows N Editions
- Figure out that the Media Feature Pack is required to play the Intro Cinematic on launch
- Guess that this missing feature was causing the crash silently with no real indication on the possible cause.
- Go in Settings → Search for “Optional Features” → Add optional features → See available features → Try adding everything related to Media without closing the window (takes few minutes sometimes): 1st [Media Feature Pack] (waited for fail), 2nd [Windows Media Player Legacy (App)] (waited for fail), 3rd [Media Feature Pack] (added successfully)
- From there go to Control Panel → Search for “Turn Windows features on or off” → Enable everything related to Media Features and .NET (First level checkbox is enough, no need to check subcomponents though you may want to not uncheck them if already present)
- Reboot → Enjoy
