How to Fix Helldivers 2 Crash At Startup on PC

Helldivers 2 on PC was an instant success, and Arrowhead Game Studios has been supporting it with new content and patches since then. Despite the developers rolling out updates to fix various issues, PC users are still experiencing errors and crashes with the game, like Helldivers 2 crashing instantly on startup. To fix the Helldivers 2 crash at startup issues, I have compiled a list of fixes.

4 Ways to Fix Helldivers 2 Not Launching on PC

According to PC players, following a recent update, Helldivers 2 is crashing at startup. Some players experience error messages, like Fatal Error, while others don’t get any error message. There are multiple reasons for Helldivers 2 not to launch on your PC, like a corrupt shader cache, mods interfering with the game, missing Visual C++ components, and more. The following fixes will resolve the Helddivers 2 startup crashes on your Windows PC.

Fix #1 – Clear NVIDIA and Helldivers 2 Shader Cache

PC players report that clearing the shader cache for Helldivers 2 fixes the crash at startup issue after the update. To clear the cache, you need to delete the game’s “shader_cache” folder and also clear the NVIDIA Shader cache.

Here is how you can clear the cache and fix the startup crashes:

• Navigate to C:\Users\”your username”\AppData\Roaming\Arrowhead\Helldivers2\
• Delete the “shader_cache” folder.
• After that, open the NVIDIA Control Panel.
• Click the “Manage 3D Settings” option from the left menu.
• Select the “Global settings”.
• Scroll down to “Shader cache size” and select the “Disabled” option.
• Apply the changes and restart your PC.
• Open NVIDIA Control Panel again and set “Shader cache size” to “default”.
• Launch Helldivers 2, and it will launch without crashing.

Fix #2 – Remove Mods

Mods allow players to tailor the game experience to their preferences. Helldivers 2 has a healthy modding community. However, mods are the reason the game is not launching on your PC.

Being a live-service game, Helldivers 2 receives updates and patches regularly. These new updates make mods incompatible, which crashes Helldiver 2 on startup, following a black screen. To fix these crashes, completely remove the mods for the game.

Fix #2 – Ensure Helldivers 2 is Running on a Dedicated GPU

If you are playing Helldivers 2 on a gaming laptop, then it is likely that the game is crashing due to the integrated GPU (iGPU). Gaming laptops utilize both the iGPU and the discrete AMD or NVIDIA GPU. Windows switches between the two GPUs depending on rendering load.

Often, with updates or some other reason, Windows does not switch to the discrete GPU, which crashes the game on startup or stops them from launching. This is the reason Helldivers 2 is crashing on your PC at startup, and you can fix it by forcing the game to use the discrete GPU. Here is how you can force Helldiver 2 to use the dedicated GPU:

• Open Windows settings, go to System, select Display, and go to Graphics.
• Look for “Helldivers 2” in the list of apps and programs and select it.
• Click on “Options” and check the “High Performance” option. Save the changes.
• Launch Helldivers 2, and it will run on the discrete GPU, fixing the startup crash.

Fix #3 – Restart your PC and Verify Game Files

If you haven’t shut down or restarted your PC in a while, it is the reason the game is not launching on your PC. Also, the update for Helldivers 2 might’ve damaged some game files, which is another reason the game is crashing at startup. You can fix these Helldivers 2 startup crashes by restarting your PC and verifying the game files. Based on community feedback, this fix works.

Here’s how you can verify and repair game files to fix the startup crashes:

• Right-click Helldivers 2 in your Steam library and click the “properties” option.
• Go to the “Installed files” tab, and click the “Verify integrity of game files” button.
• Let the scan complete.
• After that, launch Helldivers 2, and it will launch without crashing.

Fix #4 – Install or Repair Visual C++ Components

Missing or corrupt Visual C++ Components are the reason Helldivers 2 keeps crashing on your PC. Visual C++ Redistributables and necessary to run games on Windows PC.

Your PC is either missing the required Visual C++ Components or they are corrupt, which is crashing the game at startup. You can fix these crashes by installing or repairing these components. PC players report that installing the Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2012 Update 4 fixed the startup crashes.

If installing Update 4 doesn’t fix the issue, then you can install Visual C++ Redistributable Packages from Steamworks Common Redistributables. Here is how you can install them:

• Go to the Steam Library and type “Steamworks” in the search bar.
• Right-click “Steamworks Common Redistributables” > Manage > click “Browse local files”.
• Open _CommonRedist\vcredist in the explorer window that opens on your screen.
• You will get a list of folders with names in years starting from 2010.
• Open each folder one by one and run the VC_redis for both x64 and x86 versions.
• Repair or install Visual C++ Redistributables.
• Launch Helldivers 2, and it won’t crash at launch.

There you have it, our Helldivers 2 fixes for the crash on startup issue after a black screen on your Windows PC. If you are facing similar or different errors for other PC games, head over to our center of commonly occurring errors for PCs and handhelds.