apex legends steam infinite loading screen

this is a problem that i have too. i wanted to get into apex again , so i freshly installed it from EA App. and when loading up the game i get the intro and then the loading screen with endless loading circle and nothing happens. not even an error message. i can exit the game normally via ESC. but i also tried leaving it on for hours and it doesn't change a thing.

further things i tried:

- disable firewall and antivirus completely

- reboot pc & router

- unplug all usb (why does that even seem to help some ppl?!? it points at something really being wrong as to how some checks seem to be programmed...)

- flush dns , change dns to google dns temporarily

- reinstall / repair easy anti cheat (no problems found)

- again re-verify game files (no problems found)

any other internet game works fine, no matter if ea app (battlefield) or steam ....

PLEASE ADVISE!

thx