Helldivers 2

Helldivers 2 is the co-op third-person shooter from ArrowheadPublisherSony / Arrowhead Game StudiosArrowhead Game Studios is the Stockholm developer of Helldivers 2, published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The game ships nProtect GameGuard, a kernel-mode anti-cheat, and became a 2024 flashpoint over a post-launch PlayStation Network account-linking requirement that Sony added and then reversed.1 game in this family → Game Studios, published by Sony Interactive Entertainment and released February 8, 2024 on PC (Steam) and PlayStation 5. Up to four players drop onto hostile planets to fight bug and machine armies for a satirical galactic state. It runs on Autodesk StingrayEngineAutodesk Stingray (Bitsquid)Autodesk Stingray began as the Bitsquid engine, built in Stockholm from 2009, acquired by Autodesk in 2014 and relaunched as Stingray in 2015. Autodesk discontinued it in 2018, which makes Helldivers 2 notable for shipping a blockbuster on an engine with no remaining vendor support. Fatshark's Vermintide and Darktide also used it.1 game in this family →, an engine discontinued in 2018, so Arrowhead shipped a blockbuster on technology with no remaining vendor support, something the studio has spoken about openly. It was one of 2024's breakout hits.

Playing Helldivers 2 on PC means a kernel-mode anti-cheat (GameGuardAnti-cheatnProtect GameGuardnProtect GameGuard is a kernel-mode anti-cheat from the South Korean company INCA Internet, one of the oldest in the field and long deployed across Korean and Asian online games. In Helldivers 2 the developer describes it as loading while the game runs and being removed on uninstall. It has a documented history of conflicts with other software and false positives.1 game in this family →) that, per Arrowhead, loads with the game and is removed when you uninstall. If you hit a GameGuard initialization error, the usual cause is background software it objects to, so close overlays and automation tools before reinstalling from the game folder rather than disabling it. On Linux or a Steam Deck the game runs through Proton with GameGuard in user space, a lighter footprint than the Windows kernel path. The PSN-linking requirement is currently optional; if that ever changes again, it is the kind of post-launch term worth re-checking.

Helldivers 2 on PC installs nProtect GameGuard, a kernel-mode anti-cheat made by the South Korean company INCA Internet. Arrowhead described it plainly in its own community post as a kernel-level anti-cheat, and said it activates only while the game is running and is removed when the game is uninstalled, with its installer and uninstaller visible in the game folder. GameGuard is one of the oldest kernel anti-cheats, long used across Korean and other Asian online games, with a documented history of conflicts with other software and false positives. On Linux and the Steam Deck the game runs through Proton, where GameGuard operates inside Proton's container in user space rather than at the kernel, and Valve shipped a Proton hotfix for the title in February 2024. This plate does not assert a specific kernel driver filename, because the public record does not cleanly tie one to this game.

The defining trust episode was not about cheating. On May 3, 2024, three months after launch, Sony announced that PC players would be required to link a PlayStation Network account to keep playing, a step that had been waived since launch. PSN is unavailable in many countries, so the requirement would have made the game unplayable for a large part of its own audience. PC players review-bombed the game on Steam, with outlets reporting figures ranging from over 150,000 to more than 330,000 negative reviews across a few days, and Valve began removing it from sale and issuing refunds in countries without PSN. On May 6, Sony reversed the decision and made linking optional. Even after the reversal, the game stayed delisted from Steam in 177 countries where PSN is not offered. The Verge, PC Gamer, Kotaku, and Windows Central covered it. Separately, GameGuard initialization errors affected a real slice of players at launch, which Arrowhead put on the order of one in 150.