PS4 Apex Legends Squad Issues/Game Mode Problems Solved
I refer to this as the nuclear option when it comes to fixing problems on Apex Legends for PS4 due to the time it takes and collateral damage. EA’s Customer Service didn’t fix it and the Answers HQ help forums have been useless in giving solutions, so here is what I did to finally fix the problem. This takes time and you will lose another game, too. A disclaimer, I do not promise this will fix your game, nor am I responsible for any damage. I am merely sharing my experience and what worked for me.
But first the problem I was having.
Apex Legends would not let me play more than one round in a squad or change maps/game modes without restarting the game (not the system.) With the April 7 update, this meant I got to play one match before I had to shut down the game and go back in. Before that, if I played Legends, I couldn’t play Ranked or target range without shutting down the game and going back in. Then I could change to a different game mode. I would receive a “Party Member Preloading” message in the lower left corner and it would stay there with the little spinning circle until the game timed out due to inactivity. In squad mode I could play one match and then the game either wouldn’t recognize I was ready to play another match or wouldn’t recognize my squad mates were ready. Sometimes my game wouldn’t realize they had left the previous game and re-entered the lobby. To play again, I would exit the squad (not the game) and get re-invited (I could not invite them) to play. As you can imagine this made for a painful gaming experience.
Over 16 hours in chats and on the phone, 5 trouble tickets (1 had to be in a different, unassociated, email address) and a bug report with EA did nothing to fix the issue. All I received for trying to play a free game I have spent money on is frustration, condescension, being hung up on, ignored and lied to, but I digress. (Just a little bitter, please humor me.)
Here is the fix I found. Your mileage may vary. Again, I am not responsible for what happens to your system, this is just what worked for me.
Step 1: Play a game of Apex Legends to confirm the problem.
Step 2: Exit the game. Go to the main PS4 menu and shut the game down.
Step 3: Delete Apex Legends. (https://www.playstation.com/en-us/network/store/ps4-delete-reinstall-games/)
Step 4: Delete Apex Legends Saved Game data (https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/get-help/help-library/system---hardware/storage---data/manage-ps4-saved-game-data-in-system-storage/) EA told me, and I confirmed it for my situation, that Apex Legends does save all your info online in EA’s servers. You SHOULD get all your stuff back once you are finished.
Step 5: Restore Licenses (https://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps4/settings/license.html)
Step 6: Rebuild Databases. (https://www.androidcentral.com/how-make-your-playstation-4-faster-database-rebuild)
Step 7: Now your system has rebooted, delete another random game (I did not delete the Saved Game data for random deleted game.). This collateral damage random game’s sacrifice will not be in vein?
Step 8: Restart the PS4
Step 9: Wait 6 hours. Let the system shut down and time out to power save mode on its own. (I am not sure if the time is required but this is what I did that worked for me)
Step 10: Download Apex Legends, play again and see if it is fixed.
Step 11: (Optional) Re-download collateral damage deleted game.
I hope this fixed your problem like it did mine. I feel the game and saved data were corrupted somehow and the extra steps removed all links to the previous physical location of the game data forcing the game to completely reinstall itself. Good luck out there. I hope this helps you.
