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Titus and his squad.
Image via Focus Entertainment.

How To Fix Black Screen on Startup in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Beat the first loading screen boss.

When some players launch Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 for the first time, they may run into a problem with a black screen on startup. Our guide will outline how you can easily solve the problem and finally jump into the game for some glorious battles.

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How To Fix Black Screen on Startup in Space Marine 2

Attacking the Tyranids.
Image via Focus Entertainment.

Install Space Marine 2 on an SSD to fix the black screen on the startup problem. If you look at the Steam page for the game and scroll down to the system requirements, there is a section that specifically talks about solid-state drives. Players need to have the game installed on an SSD or there is a chance that it just won’t launch correctly.

If you’re a player that only has an HDD for your PC, you may be out of luck for the time being. The black screen happens because the game can’t load fast enough beyond the initial cinematic. As soon as the game cinematic begins, your screen will go dark and you can still hear some of the audio. If you’re tracking your FPS on the screen and they look like they are plummeting, then this should be a confirmation that your hard drive is the issue.

You can check your hardware settings on your PC and your storage settings on Steam to ensure that your SSD is used by default. In theory, you still have a chance to load into the game without an SSD. However, it will take an incredibly long time at best or the game will stay frozen at worst. The only true solution is to ensure you have an SSD in your system that has enough space to store the game. Otherwise, get the game on console or wait until some future updates help with load speeds.

And that’s all there is to fixing the black screen on startup. Now you should be able to join the glorious fight for the Emperor unless you run into an issue like Error Code 140.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is available now on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 5.


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Image of Dan Wenerowicz
Dan Wenerowicz
Dan Wenerowicz is a Staff Writer at The Escapist, where he helps lead the team's guides coverage of FPS and action games such as Call of Duty, Elden Ring, Diablo 4, and Black Myth: Wukong. He has a Bachelor's in Writing and has worked as a video game journalist for four years, having written and edited for such prominent outlets as Prima Games, Screen Rant, Sportskeeda, GINX TV, and Gfinity. His work has been read by millions of people, and his expertise has helped them better understand and complete video games.