Alice madness returns NOT LAUNCHING (Steam)

Hi there, I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble launching your game and that you had trouble contacting EA Help. 

Thanks for sharing the screenshot. The error indicates that XAPOFX1_4.dll is missing. This is part of a legacy DirectX component required by some older games, including Alice: Madness Returns.

Please download and install the official DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010) package from Microsoft. After downloading:

1. Run the file and extract its contents into a new temporary folder.
2. Open that folder and run DXSETUP.exe as administrator.
3. Once the installation is complete, restart your computer and try launching the game again.

Please avoid downloading the missing DLL individually from third-party websites.

Since you previously changed some of the game’s files, I’d also recommend removing those changes. If the DirectX installation does not resolve it, uninstall the game, delete any files left inside the Alice: Madness Returns installation folder, reinstall it, and verify the files again through Steam > Properties > Installed Files > Verify integrity of game files.

Let us know if the error changes after installing the DirectX package. I hope this helps.