[2019] ''Waiting for Steam to load.''

On behalf of a pal. Game was cool, running fine. Then last week when they started the game they'd see a notice of:

''Waiting for Steam to load.''

Of which it would keep staying on the loading screen (tried for an hour plus). They've reloaded drivers, rechecked game files, ended up deleting and reloading the game. Still the same issue.

Poked around on Steam forums and there is an old post with the same issue. Anyone have a work around?

https://steamcommunity.com/app/548430/discussions/2/1745605598723747986/