The of Hitman: Absolution includes extra content: the Hitman: Sniper Challenge , an artbook, a making-of documentary, and the High-Tech Pack DLC. Because this edition bundles multiple executables and DLC authentication layers, it is more sensitive to DLL mismatches than the standard edition.
Common causes specific to this edition:
This is the #1 cause. Antivirus software (Avast, Norton, McAfee, or even Windows Defender) often flags steamapi.dll as a "generic trojan" or "riskware." It does this because the file injects code into the game process (which is normal), but AV software hates code injection. The AV quarantines the file, and suddenly, the error appears. The of Hitman: Absolution includes extra content: the
Despite its scary error message, steamapi.dll is not malware, a virus, or a corrupted save file. It is the between the game and the Steam client. Antivirus software (Avast, Norton, McAfee, or even Windows
(where HMA.exe is located)