Modern Warfare 2 “Disconnected from Steam” error: How to fix, possible reasons, and more

Fixing the “Disconnected from Steam” error in Modern Warfare 2 (Image via Modern Warfare 2)
Fixing the “Disconnected from Steam” error in Modern Warfare 2 (Image via Modern Warfare 2)

Presently, Modern Warfare 2 seems to be having a fair number of issues with its launchers on PC. Both Battle.net and Steam have suffered from glitches and bugs since their release dates.

Players of the latest franchise entry have faced a number of problems with the launcher, with one of the most common ones being “Disconnected from Steam”. This error has been popping up for multiple PC users who are playing Modern Warfare 2 through Steam, and even a week after its launch, it’s still rather prevalent.

What makes it one of the more annoying issues to deal with is the fact that the “Disconnected from Steam” error does not have a permanent fix yet. There are a few temporary solutions that many in the Call of Duty community have tried to potentially fix this issue.

Today’s article will go over some of the workarounds that players can try out to possibly rectify the “Disconnected from Steam” error in Modern Warfare 2.


Fixing the “Disconnected from Steam” error in Modern Warfare 2

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To deal with the “Disconnected from Steam” error in Modern Warfare 2, here are a few things you can look to do.


1) Scan and repair the game’s files

Scanning for file integrity may be something that you can do to fix the problem in the game. There can be times when the files in the Modern Warfare 2 installation directory get corrupted. By scanning and fixing them, you can replace the corrupted ones with fresh files.

To do this, you will first have to head to Battle.net or to the Steam client, select the game, go to Settings, and then click on the option of “Scan and repair files”. This will begin a process that scans all the files in the game's directory and automatically repairs/downloads them if any are found to be corrupted.


2) Updating the game

It’s likely that your game is not updated to the latest patch. A version mismatch can be one of the root causes of the “Disconnected from Steam” error in Modern Warfare 2. If that is indeed the case, you will need to check for the game's latest update and download it.

To update the shooter, you must highlight the game and select the “Check for updates option” on your console. On PC, you can head to the respective Battle.net or Steam client and check for the most recent version of MW2 in the game settings.


3) Clearing Steam’s download cache

Interestingly, clearing the Steam cache seems to have worked for many in the Call of Duty community, making it a good option to try out. To do this, you will be required to open the Steam client and then click on the Steam icon in the top left corner.

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After opening the settings menu, you must head over to the 'Downloads' section and clear the download cache there. This process may likely fix Steam’s launching issues in general and not just with Modern Warfare 2, but other games as well.


4) Checking for server health

Moving away from a player-related issue, it’s likely that the game’s servers may be down or facing issues that are causing this error. To verify this, you will be required to check on server availability by heading to Activision's Online Services website.

If the servers are properly functioning and you are still facing this error after all of the steps listed above, then you may just have to wait for a patch by the developers to root it out.

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