Could not validate game ownership after clean Windows reinstall (Steam)

FiveM Client Support
,
1

What is the issue you’re having?

FiveM always fails to start with the following error:

“Could not validate game ownership! If you are running this as administrator, please launch it as regular user.”

The log shows:

Found matching entitlement for Access to Grand Theft Auto V for PC
Found matching entitlement for Access to Grand Theft Auto V for PC Steam

Immediately after that:

Error: Could not validate game ownership!

GTA V Story Mode launches correctly and Steam confirms that I own the game.

What have you tried already to fix the issue?

  • Clean reinstall of Windows 11
  • Reinstalled Steam
  • Reinstalled GTA V
  • Reinstalled Rockstar Games Launcher
  • Reinstalled FiveM
  • Verified GTA V files (609/609)
  • GTA V Story Mode works correctly
  • Rockstar Game Library Service is running
  • Gaming Services installed
  • Tested with a brand new Windows user account
  • FiveM, GTA V and Rockstar Launcher are NOT running as administrator
  • Same Steam, Rockstar and Cfx.re accounts as before
  • Contacted Cfx.re Support, but the ticket was closed with a generic troubleshooting article.

What server did you get this issue on?

None - FiveM crashes before I can join any server.

Error screenshot(s)

Capture d'écran 2026-08-03 081504.png
Capture d'écran 2026-08-03 081504.png447×245 53.1 KB

Windows version

Windows 11 Pro 25H2 (Build 26200.8875)

System specifications

CPU: Intel Core i5-13400F
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB
RAM: 32 GB
OS: Windows 11 Pro 25H2 (Build 26200.8875)
GTA V: Steam version

Antivirus software

Windows Security (Microsoft Defender)

CitizenFX crash zip file (‘Save information’ on a crash)

CfxCrashDump_2026_08_03_09_34_36.zip (78.2 KB)

Log files

CitizenFX_log_2026-08-03T093417.log (3.22 KB)

Additional comments

Thank you for taking the time to look into my issue. If you need any additional logs, tests, or information, I will gladly provide them.

2

Hello, this is a friendly reminder because this is your first time creating a topic (or it has been a while since your last topic) in this category.

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To improve your chances of your issue(s) being solved, please provide as much information as possible about the issue(s) you are having. Also —whenever possible— please use the template given to you when creating a topic.

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