Helldivers 2 Crashing, Won’t Launch, or Not Responding on PC (Solved)

Helldivers 2 is a third-person shooter game that has been developed by Arrowhead Game Studios and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It is the sequel to Helldivers, a top-down shooter game released in 2015. Helldivers 2 was released on 8 February 2024 for PlayStation 5 and Windows. However, since the game is new, some players have reported encountering issues such as crashing, launch failure, and unresponsiveness.

If you’re experiencing issues with a startup crash or the game not launching on the PC version, don’t worry. These problems are becoming increasingly common in PC gaming, whether you’re playing a top franchise title or an indie game. These specific issues may occur due to in-game bugs or stability issues. Since the game is new, the developers may take some time to provide more stability and fewer bugs.

Helldivers 2 Crashing, Won't Launch, or Not Responding on PC (Solved)

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What are the Reasons for Helldivers 2 Crashing?

What are the Reasons for Helldivers 2 Crashing?

It’s important to remember that there are various reasons why the Risk of Rain game may fail to launch correctly on your PC. These reasons could include temporary system glitches, compatibility issues with your computer’s specifications, outdated game patches, corrupted game files, or an outdated graphics driver. Additionally, conflicts with outdated system versions, steam overlay issues, missing or outdated DirectX and Visual C++ Redistributables, unnecessary third-party background apps, and more can also cause issues.

Fortunately, we have some solutions that can help you fix these problems. It is recommended that you follow all the troubleshooting methods provided until the issue is resolved. Without further ado, let’s jump right into it.

1. Restart the PC

We recommend that you manually restart your PC before trying other solutions to refresh any temporary glitches or cache data issues causing game-launching conflicts. Restarting your PC is a basic workaround that can often help resolve the issue. If this doesn’t work, you can follow the next set of methods.

2. Check the System Requirements

To ensure that you can run Helldivers 2 game on your system without any issues, it’s important to check if your hardware and software meet the minimum system requirements. Incompatibility with your system can result in problems while launching the game. Below are the minimum system requirements for Helldivers 2 that you can review to ensure compatibility.

Minimum System Requirements:

Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i7-4790K or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 470
Storage: 100 GB available space

Recommended System Requirements:

Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i7-9700K or AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 or AMD Radeon RX 6600XT
Storage: 100 GB available space
Additional Notes: SSD Recommended

3. Run Helldivers 2 as an Administrator

Ensure that you run Helldivers 2 (exe) application as an administrator on the PC by following the steps below to check whether the problem has been fixed. Without having the system admin’s permission, you might experience multiple issues with the program launching on the PC.

Go to the installed game directory on the PC.
Right-click on the RiskofRainReturns.exe application file.
Click on Properties > Click on the Compatibility tab.

Enable the Run this program as an administrator checkbox.
Once done, click on Apply and then OK to save changes.

4. Update Helldivers 2

It’s highly recommended to check for the game updates and set the update option for the Steam client to ensure there is no issue with the outdated game patch version.

Open the Steam client > Go to Library.
Right-click on Helldivers 2 from the list.
Click on Manage > Select Properties.
Now, click on the Updates tab.
Click on Automatic Updates.
Once enabled, the game will update automatically whenever the latest version is available.

5. Verify and Repair the Game Files

There is a possibility that your installed game files will somehow become corrupted or missing due to some unexpected reasons. So, the corrupted or missing game files can trigger game-launching issues on the PC. It would be best if you tried verifying and repairing the game files by following the steps below.

Launch Steam > Click on Library.
Right-click on Helldivers 2 from the list.
Click on Properties > Go to Local Files.

Now, click on Verify Integrity of Game Files.
Wait for the repair process to be completed.
Once done, restart your PC to apply changes.

6. Turn Off the Steam Overlay

You can try disabling the Steam in-game overlay feature manually for Helldivers 2 game directly on the Steam client to ensure there is no conflict with the game launching. Sometimes in-game overlay apps or functions can eventually trigger program startup crashes on the PC. To turn it off:

Open the Steam client > Go to Library.
Right-click on Helldivers 2.
Now, click on Properties.

Turn Off the Enable Steam Overlay while in-game option from the GENERAL tab.
Once done, you can try launching the game to check for the issue.

7. Check for Graphics Driver Updates

An outdated or corrupted graphics card driver can trigger multiple issues with the game crashing or launching on the system. Checking for the graphics driver update is recommended by following the steps below.

Press the Win+X keys > Click on Device Manager from the list.
Double-click on Display adapters.
Right-click on the dedicated graphics card that you’re currently using.

Device Manager Update Display Adapter

Click on Update driver > Choose Search automatically for drivers.
If the latest update is available, it’ll automatically download & install the latest version.
Once done, restart the computer to apply changes immediately.

Alternatively, you can manually download the latest graphics driver version and install it on the PC via the official website. Download the graphics driver file respective to your graphics card model and manufacturer.

8. Close Background Apps

Unnecessary background running tasks or programs can eat up a lot of system resources like CPU or Memory usage, reducing system performance. Hence, the startup crashing, lagging, and not loading issues often appear. Close all the third-party unnecessary background running tasks completely. To do this:

Press the Ctrl+Shift+Esc keys to open up Task Manager on the PC.
Now, click on the Processes tab > Click to select the unnecessary task. [CPU/Memory consuming task]
Click on End Task to close it.
Do the same steps for other unnecessary third-party tasks, too.
Once done, restart your system to apply changes.

9. Disable Fullscreen Optimizations

It’s a better idea to manually disable the fullscreen optimizations on the Windows system by following the steps below. By doing so, you’ll be able to avoid fullscreen display-related conflicts.

Right-click on Helldivers 2 application on your PC.
Select Properties > Click on the Compatibility tab.
Click on Disable fullscreen optimizations to select it.

Once done, click on Apply > Select OK to save changes.

10. Update Windows

Sometimes, issues with outdated system software can also cause conflicts with system performances, especially in multiplayer games or resource-heavy programs. You should always update the system software on your device to maintain stable performance. To do that:

Press the Win+I keys to open Windows Settings.
Click on Update & Security > Click on Check for updates under Windows Update.

If there is a new update available, hit Download and Install.
Wait for the system to update and reboot the PC.

11. Turn Off the Antivirus Protection

You should also manually turn off the antivirus protection on the PC to avoid any aggressive blocking issues with the game application.

Press the Win+I keys to open Windows Settings.
Click on Update & Security > Click on Windows Security from the left pane.
Now, click on the Open Windows Security button.
Go to Virus & Threat Protection.
Click on Manage Settings.
Just Turn Off the Real-time Protection toggle.

If prompted, click on Yes to proceed further.
Finally, you can check for the game crashing issue.

Please Note: If you’re using any other third-party antivirus program on your PC, turn off the real-time protection feature manually.

12. Perform a Clean Boot

According to multiple reports, certain third-party programs always run in the background during Windows boot. Therefore, performing a clean boot and disabling conflicting startup apps is crucial for better performance.

Press the Win+R keys to open the Run dialogue box.
Now, type msconfig and hit Enter to open System Configuration.
Go to the Services tab > Set Hide all Microsoft services to Enable.

Click on Disable all > Click on Apply and OK to save changes.
Now, go to the Startup tab > Click on Open Task Manager.
Click on the Startup tab from Task Manager.
Make sure to click on the task with a higher startup impact.
Once selected, click on Disable to turn it off.
Do the same steps for each program that has a higher startup impact.
Finally, make sure to restart your computer to apply changes.

13. Update DirectX and VCRedist

One more thing you can try is installing the latest version of DirectX and Visual C++ Redistributables application on your PC. An outdated version of either of these can lead to problems with program launching and conflicts with system processes. To do this, follow the steps below:

Visit the official Microsoft website and download the latest DirectX installer version.
Run the installer and install DirectX completely.
Next, visit the official Microsoft website.
Download and Install the latest Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime on the PC.
Once done, reboot the PC to apply changes.

14. Contact Arrowhead Game Studios Support

If none of the methods worked for you, contact Support for Helldivers 2 for further assistance. You should create a support ticket to get a better resolution. Submitting a support ticket will help developers to investigate the issue further. Additionally, you can try following the @ArrowheadGS Twitter handle to get a better idea of what kind of issues are being faced by the affected players.

That’s it, guys. We assume this guide was helpful to you. For further queries, you can comment below.