[PC/Steam] Sept 15: settings reset, missing profile.cfg, launch options ignored

Platform: PC, Steam

Update date: September 15, 2026

Summary

Apex Legends was working normally approximately 30 minutes before the September 15 update. Immediately after installing the update, all in-game settings behaved as if reset to defaults, including keybinds, graphics, and other settings.

My existing profile.cfg, settings.cfg, and videoconfig.txt were still present and unchanged, but the game stopped applying them. My Steam Launch Options were also still present and unchanged, but no longer had any observable effect.

Checks and troubleshooting

• Windows Controlled Folder Access is disabled.

• The configuration files were not set to read-only.

• I renamed C:\Users\<username>\Saved Games\Respawn\Apex so the game would create a completely fresh configuration folder.

• Apex successfully created a new Apex folder, confirming it could access the Saved Games path and create a folder there.

• However, the newly generated profile folder contained only steam_autocloud.vdf. The expected profile.cfg was not generated.

• Using this completely fresh configuration, I changed settings again, exited the game normally, and restarted it. The issue remained.

Expected behavior

The game should apply existing saved settings, generate the required configuration files when starting with a fresh configuration folder, and retain settings after a normal exit and restart. Previously working Steam Launch Options should continue to take effect.

Actual behavior

Settings behave as defaults, existing configuration files are not applied, profile.cfg is not generated in the fresh profile folder, and unchanged Steam Launch Options have no observable effect.

Additional observations

Several other players I know experienced the same problem immediately after the same update.

The timing, reports from other players, and persistence with a completely fresh configuration strongly suggest a regression introduced by the September 15 update rather than corruption of old configuration files. The underlying cause has not been confirmed.