Helldivers 2 has been a smashing success across all supported platforms, so much so that its servers are finding it hard to accommodate the growing number of players each day. If that seems unbelievable, then know that the cooperative shooter has already passed Destiny's all-time concurrent player count on PC. The popularity is the same on the side of PlayStation as well, where the sequel has outperformed the likes of Call of Duty and Fortnite.
With hundreds of thousands of players trying to log in at the same time, server-led connection issues are a common sight. The black screen of death, for example, is something most players have started facing on launch in Helldivers 2 following a patch to address crashes. Luckily, there are a few workarounds that you can try.
How to Fix the Black Screen on Startup in Helldivers 2
The black screen is a technical error that locks you out of the game on start-up. This is believed to be because of an issue with launching Helldivers 2 in fullscreen mode.
When the black screen hits, your game will immediately freeze without giving any audio feedback, leaving you with no choice but to hard exit by pressing Alt+F4 on your keyboard. If you are facing this issue, here is what you can do:
Wait it Out
There is a good chance that the black screen gets removed after a few minutes. All you have to do is wait patiently without switching between your desktop and the game. The waiting period is random, with some players seeing the main menu in as early as 2–3 minutes.
Edit Your Config File
The best way to fix the black screen on startup is to stop Helldivers 2 from launching in fullscreen. Since you cannot access the in-game display settings, you must manually edit the configuration file on your PC.
The "user-settings.config" file can be found inside "C:\Users\User-Name\AppData\Roaming\Arrowhead\Helldivers2" on your system. Make sure to enable the Windows view settings to see all hidden items. Open the config file using Notepad or any text-editing app, and change the fullscreen field from true to false.
You can also just delete the config file to fix the black screen error. That will launch Helldivers 2 in default settings, so you will have to tweak your PC graphics settings all over again.
If you are facing a black screen all the time, remember to exit Helldivers 2 after switching to borderless window mode. This ensures that you do not have to tweak/delete your config file every time.
Verify Your Steam Game Files
There is no harm in verifying your game to fix missing or broken files. This is also one of the last resorts players can rely on when facing launch issues in games. Open your Steam Library and right-click on Helldivers 2 to access the "Properties" option. Head into the "Installed Files" tab to verify the integrity of your game files.
Helldivers 2
- Released
- February 8, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Arrowhead Game Studios, Nixxes
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation Publishing
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter, Extraction Shooter, Action, Science Fiction
