Helldivers 2 black screen error on launch: Possible causes and fixes

The fight for Super Earth is on in Helldivers 2 but many players have seen their progress halted by a black screen error. If this has happened to you, we may have a solution.

Helldivers 2 has enjoyed a successful launch with over 80,000 concurrent players on Steam in the first 24 hours but there have been numerous issues, particularly for players on PC, and the black screen error is one of the most frustrating. Although there seems to be no guaranteed fix for the issue, a workaround has been discovered that may resolve your problem. We have all the details you need here.

Possible fixes for Helldivers 2 black screen error on launch

There are several causes for the black screen error in Helldivers 2, with the most common being the game servers are at maximum capacity. Helldivers 2 devs have previously limited the number of players able to launch the game and access the servers as they address server load issues, particularly on the weekends.

Should the servers be at capacity, you will be unable to access Helldivers 2 for a short while. We suggest you attempt to restart the game but if the issue continues to occur, take a short break. Stay tuned to the Helldivers 2 official X/Twitter account or check the Alerts channel in the game’s Discord server for the latest news and server status.

Helldivers 2 black screen error with AMD GPUs

While this is yet to be confirmed, players have noticed similarities between AMD GPU users encountering the black screen issue. Unfortunately, there is no definite fix at this time.

Some players have discovered a potential workaround that has enabled them to play the game, although it seems this has not worked for everyone. The workaround is as follows:

• Open the Helldivers 2 pause menu.
• Navigate to the “Options” tab.
• Scroll down to “Graphics“.
• Switch “Screen-Space Global Illumination” to off.
• Switch “Anti-Aliasing” to off.

If these steps do not work for you or you encounter a black screen error before you can change your settings, the best approach is to launch a support ticket with developer Arrowhead Games and use the official Discord to speak to other players encountering the same issue. This particular discussion has some more advanced approaches you can try, though again there is no guarantee that they will work.

You can also check to see whether a driver update is available for your GPU and AMD may release a new driver patch to solve this issue.