Apex hangs forever on the loading screen after the intro
Body:
Hi all,
Posting here because the EA support form won't submit for me, and I've run out of things to try.
THE PROBLEM
Apex Legends (Steam) never reaches the main menu. The EA Anti-Cheat "verifying game environment" splash completes normally, r5apex_dx12.exe starts, the intro animation plays, and then the game freezes on the loading screen (the APEX LEGENDS splash with the spinner), forever. No error dialog, no crash, no log entry. I left it for more than 10 minutes.
Also tried launching from the EA app instead of Steam. It fails too.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE WHILE HUNG
CPU: one thread pegged at 100% continuously
GPU 3D usage: about 1.6% (the last frame is frozen, nothing renders)
Working set: plateaus at about 3.6 GB and stops growing
C:\ProgramData\Origin\Logs\r5apex_dx12_194908_OnlineActivation_Log.html is never written after the hang, so the game never reaches EA SDK initialization
MY SYSTEM
Windows 11 25H2, build 26200.9457 (in-place repair install already done)
CPU i5-13600KF, 32 GB DDR4-3600 (XMP)
GPU AMD Radeon RX 9070, driver 26.7.1 (32.0.31035.1003)
No third-party AV (Huorong uninstalled), no accelerator (NetEase UU uninstalled)
Apex build v3.0.4.24 (R5pc_r5-310_J24_CL11700487_FSv31_0_2026_10_23), EAAC 1.0.16371190
WHAT I HAVE RULED OUT (with evidence)
Game files: Steam verify integrity, zero errors
OS files: sfc /scannow clean, chkdsk clean, plus a full Windows in-place repair install
RAM: Windows Memory Diagnostic, no errors
GPU driver and D3D12: on the same machine and the same driver, Forza Horizon 6 (DX12) runs at 55-63% GPU usage and is perfectly playable, while Apex stays at 1.6%. So the GPU stack is fine.
EAAC install: reinstalled, driver loads, service starts
Third-party hooks: Huorong and NetEase UU uninstalled, HVCI (Memory Integrity) disabled, all shader caches cleared
Proxy and environment variables: no proxy vars in user or system environment, WinINET and WinHTTP both direct, no proxy keys in EA, Origin, Steam or game configs
Steam and EA app: both work, EA app is signed in
Tried GPU drivers 26.9.1 and 26.7.1, windowed mode, -nosound, deleting Saved Games\Respawn\Apex, and restarting Steam from a clean environment
