As a new game, Helldivers 2 may not be perfect. For example, the Helldivers 2 black screen error has been reported by numerous players. MiniTool Software tells you what you can do to fix the problem in this post.
Here are some easy methods you can try when you are bothered by Helldivers 2 black screen on startup.
Screen Goes Black when Launching Helldivers 2
Helldivers 2 is the sequel to Helldivers, which is a 2015 top-down shooter. It is a third-person shooter developed by Arrowhead Game Studios and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
This game is initially released on February 8, 2024, for PlayStation 5 and Windows. The release of the game attracted many gamers. However, many gamers have reported that their screen goes black when launching Helldivers 2. Even some players who are playing the game for the first time have encountered this problem.
Here is a report from steamcommunity.com:
Black screen at startup
When I start the game from Steam or from a desktop icon I see the NGuard Logo and then the game starts fullscreen. The screen is blank and I don’t hear any audio. I’m on the latest version as of 2/14/2024 and my graphics drivers are all up to date. Anything I can do to report this to Arrowhead for a fix?
We follow this report and collect some solutions that are proven to be effective.
How to Fix: Helldivers 2 Black Screen on Startup
Way 1. Wait for Some Minutes
As a popular game, the players are numerous. When countless gamers are playing the game at the same time, the server will be at its full capacity. The game needs time to contact a server and this time it will be longer.
For instance, you might see a message saying Server at capacity. This usually means that the servers are full. So, you need to wait until a room is out.
Way 2. Relaunch Helldivers 2
Relaunching a game provides a clean slate for the game to run, potentially resolving a variety of issues that may have accumulated during gameplay. You can also do this and see if the Helldivers 2 black screen error goes away.
Way 3. Restart Your PC
A Helldivers 2 black screen error can be caused by some temporary faulty files on your PC. You can remove these files by rebooting your computer.
Way 4. Delete the user_settings. config file
Many users solve the issue by deleting the user-settings.config file. You can also try this way.
Step 1. In File Explorer, go to C:users/[yourusername]/appdata/roaming/arrowhead/helldivers2.
Step 2. Find the user_settings.config file and delete it.
Step 3. Relaunch Helldivers 2.
Step 4. Pick your language and select your settings if you’ve played before.
Further Reading
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Way 5. Edit Helldivers 2 Config File
If you don’t want to delete the user-settings.config file, you can just edit the config file to stop Helldivers 2 from launching in fullscreen.
You can use the steps mentioned above to find the user_settings.config file. After that, you need to open the config file using Notepad and change the fullscreen field from true to false.
Way 6. Change the Way to Make Helldivers 2 Full Screen
A user also reports this solution:
Switching Helldivers 2 to borderless windowed before closing the game, then you can just switch back to fullscreen when the game opens without any problems.
If your Helldivers 2 gets a black screen on startup after trying the above solutions, you can try this one.
Way 7. Verify the Game Files
Verifying your game files to address any missing or damaged files is a harmless step. It’s often a final option for players experiencing launch problems.
To do this, you need to go to the Steam Library of Helldivers 2, right-click on the game, select Properties, and then navigate to the Installed Files tab to verify file integrity.
Way 8. Reinstall the Anti-Cheating System
Some players say that the anti-cheating system is buggy, which is causing some files to become corrupted. These corrupted files could be the cause of Helldivers 2 black screen on startup. After reinstalling the anti-cheating app, they can play Helldivers 2 normally.
Way 9. Reinstall Helldivers 2
Reinstalling a game provides a fresh start with all game files, configurations, and settings, which can often resolve a wide range of issues that may be affecting gameplay. This can also install the latest version of Helldiver 2, which may contain a fix to the Helldiver 2 black screen error.
Way 10. Disable the Steam overlay
Disabling the Steam overlay can be an effective troubleshooting step for resolving black screen issues in games like Helldivers 2. It can particularly fix the issues related to overlay conflicts, resource consumption, compatibility issues, graphics driver interference, or temporary glitches.
Way 11. Fix GPU Issues
Here are 2 common situations:
- For AMD Radeon users: If you own an AMD Radeon 7000 series graphics card, it’s possible that the game may not perform as expected until developers release a solution. This issue is acknowledged, and developers are currently working on resolving it.
- For NVIDIA users: If you’re utilizing an NVIDIA graphics card, disabling a feature known as Image Scaling in the NVIDIA Control Panel could potentially resolve the black screen problem.
These are the solutions you can try if Helldivers 2 gets a black screen on startup. We hope you can find an effective solution here.
About The Author
Position: Columnist
Stella has been working in MiniTool Software as an English Editor for more than 8 years. Her articles mainly cover the fields of data recovery including storage media data recovery, phone data recovery, and photo recovery, videos download, partition management, and video & audio format conversions.