EA Staff (Retired)Encountered this as well. Currently have been playing under Windows 11 in Parallels on macOS Sonoma. macOS version is 32-bit and won't launch, PC version launches with this error immediately.
I have uninstalled and re-installed the game, restarted virtual machine and physical machine multiple times with no change in behavior. Validated install files: "All 64 files successfully validated". And copied the steam.dll file to the Plants vs Zombies folder outlined in previous posts. Still wouldn't launch.
Uninstalled Steam and re-installed Steam. Logged in, reinstalled PvZ. Same error. Copied over the steam.dll file after this happened again. This time, no error, system becomes unresponsive. Restarted virtual machine. This time launched from the icon on desktop. Blank black screen and system is mostly unresponsive. Quit from task manager.
Opened Steam>Library>Plants vs Zombies>Manage>Browse local files. Ran the .exe as admin: mouse cursor loads, no blank screen and difficult to force close. Restarted virtual machine and tried steps again: same results.
Here's what I had to do to get it up and going:
1) Install latest version of steam and install and verify PVC from game library
2) As previously mentioned, in File Explorer, navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam and copy the steam.dll file to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Plants Vs Zombies
3) In C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Plants Vs Zombies right-click on the .exe file and select 'Properties'
4) In the Properties window, select 'Compatibility'
5) Setup the window as shown here:
6) When clicking 'Change high DPI settings', configure settings to match this image:
7) Click 'OK' in the HiDPI window and then, if needed/present, click the 'ARM emulation settings' button and configure as pictured:
8) Click 'OK' in the 'ARM emulation settings' button if needed and then click 'Apply' in the main 'Properties' window.
9) Launch the game. It will likely launch in a VERY low resoution mode and may look windowed instead of full screen. This is expected.
10) In the game's main menu, select 'Options', disable fullscreen if enabled, save the changes, and quit the game.
11) Return to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Plants Vs Zombies and right-click on the .exe file and select 'Properties' and once again, select 'Compatibility'
12) Uncheck 'Run in 640 x 480 screen resolution' and 'Disable fullscreen optimizations'. KEEP 'Run this program as an administrator'
13) Click 'Apply' and launch PvZ from either steam or from the .exe file. If desired, you may enable full screen mode again from the game options menu.
Hopefully this helps save some time and helps anyone else that may have encounter this as I did.
