Apex Legends players using Radeon RX 9070 XT report crashes after AMD Adrenalin 26.8.1 driver update
Apex Legends players running the game on AMD’s Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics card are reporting crashes and black screen issues after installing the latest AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.8.1 driver.
The problem appears to affect some systems using AMD’s RX 9000 series GPUs, with the Radeon RX 9070 XT being specifically mentioned in recent player reports. While the issue does not seem to be affecting every user, it has become noticeable enough that the Apex Legends development team has acknowledged it and is now investigating.
According to the Apex Legends Japan support account, players experiencing crashes on Radeon RX 9070 XT systems are advised to roll back their AMD graphics driver. Although the team did not directly name AMD Adrenalin Edition 26.8.1 as the cause, the timing strongly suggests that the crashes may be connected to the latest driver release.
For now, the recommended temporary fix is to downgrade from AMD Adrenalin 26.8.1 to version 26.7.1. At least one player has confirmed that rolling back to 26.7.1 solved the issue and allowed Apex Legends to run normally again.
However, the situation may not be the same for everyone. Some users claim that crashes and random black screens continue even after moving back to AMD Adrenalin 26.7.1. Based on multiple user reports, the more stable option for affected players may be AMD Adrenalin Edition 26.6.1, which appears to avoid the crash problems seen in the newer driver versions.
This suggests that the issue is likely driver-related rather than a hardware defect with the Radeon RX 9070 XT or a direct problem with Apex Legends itself. Driver conflicts can sometimes appear after new GPU software updates, especially in competitive online games where stability and low latency are critical.
If you are playing Apex Legends on a Radeon RX 9070 XT and recently started experiencing crashes, freezing, or black screens after updating to AMD Adrenalin 26.8.1, rolling back to an older driver may be the best short-term solution. Players who still encounter problems on 26.7.1 may want to try version 26.6.1 while waiting for an official fix.
The Apex Legends team is currently looking into the issue, and AMD may also need to address the problem in a future graphics driver update. Until then, affected players should avoid updating to the latest Adrenalin driver if their current setup is stable.
