Helldivers 2 “GameGuard Initialize error”: Possible fixes, reasons, and more

Helldivers 2 players continue to face issues with the game’s Kernel-level anti-cheat as the “GameGuard Initialize error” seems to be popping up now. Every time this error happens, the game will exit if you are on a mission or not let you log in to begin with, which admittedly, can get quite annoying, especially for a multiplayer-focused title like Helldivers.

It’s one of the more annoying performance issues to fend off in the shooter, and there is no permanent fix that you can try to solve it.

Fortunately, there are a few community-found workarounds that might temporarily deal with the issue. Below are some steps you can follow to solve the GameGuard error in Helldivers 2.

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How to fix the Helldivers 2 “GameGuard Initialize error”

Here are a few things you can try to deal with the GameGuard error in Helldivers 2:

1) Whitelist the anti-cheat in your anti-virus

In most cases, it’s your system’s anti-virus that is causing the error by not allowing GameGuard to function. To prevent this, you can whitelist the anti-cheat on the anti-virus. Here's what you need to do:

• Make your way to the Helldivers 2 folder on your system and then look for the Bin folder. After spotting it, make your way in and delete the GameGuard folder inside.
• Now run Helldivers 2 as a “.exe” which will automatically create a new GameGuard folder.
• Now, going to your anti-virus software, you will be able to spot the new GameGuard folder. All you need to do is add it to your whitelist.
• This is very likely going to solve the issue for you if the problem is with the anti-virus stopping the anti-cheat.

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2) Uninstall your anti-cheat

If whitelisting GameGuard on your anti-cheat doesn’t work, then you can just uninstall the software. While it might seem like a rather drastic step to take, many in the community have stated that by removing their anti-cheat, they were able to solve most of GameGuard’s errors.

Do note that any future title update for the game will reinstall the anti-cheat, requiring a manual uninstall every time an update is deployed.

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3) Run Helldivers 2 as an administrator

Another step that seems to have worked for a few is to run the game's executable as an admin. To do this, all you need to do is right-click on the game and then select the “Run as an Administrator” option. This is likely to fix Black Screen errors as well.

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4) Wait for a patch

If the above solutions do not work for you, then the best way to go about fixing the issue will be to wait for a patch. Helldiver 2 has been facing significant performance issues since its launch, and Arrowhead Game Studios is introducing patches periodically to fix them.