F1 25 announcement: startup crash linked to latest Steam Beta client

We’ve got a heads-up for F1 25 league admins: the developers are investigating a startup crash issue that appears tied to the latest Steam Beta client, according to the official announcement.

What changed

Fixes

• The team is investigating a potential issue where the game may close or crash immediately after launch.
• Reported behavior is an early startup crash before the intro video plays.
• Based on current testing, switching from the Steam Beta client back to the stable Steam client appears to resolve the issue.
• The suspected cause is the latest Steam Beta update.
• The affected Steam client details listed are:
  • Steam branch: Steam Beta
  • Steam version: 1780620638
  • Steam client build date: Fri, Jun 5, 2026, 2:26 AM UTC -08:00
  • Steam web build date: Thu, Jun 4, 2026, 7:44 PM UTC -08:00
  • Steam API version: SteamClient023
• The stated workaround is to opt out of Steam Beta and return to the stable Steam client.

Physics

• Additional notes say the issue may be related to Steam’s handling or reporting of DLSS Frame Generation, or to the Steam performance monitor overlay.
• Because the crash happens very early in startup, before the intro video, it may be occurring during initial graphics or overlay setup.

For league ops, we should notify drivers to avoid the Steam Beta client for now and check overlays or frame-generation settings if anyone reports pre-intro startup crashes.