Summary:
- Helldivers 2’s GameGuard anti-cheat has received more than its fair share of complaints, mostly centered on it causing technical issues.
- Arrowhead’s CEO has now stated they’re considering their options on the future of GameGuard due to community feedback.
Ever since GameGuard made its debut in Helldivers 2, it’s been under fire, and rightfully so. This anti-cheat was supposed to safeguard the game’s co-op experience from cheating that may find their way into the game. Yet, the outcome has been a slew of complaints regarding performance issues that have left the Helldivers 2 community frustrated.
What is the GameGuard Anti-Cheat?
Since its release, Helldivers 2’s anti-cheat system, nProtect GameGuard, has created quite the controversy. nProtect GameGuard runs at the kernel level, meaning that it has very deep access to the computer’s OS so that it can detect cheating and cheating tools.
The kernel-based approach is a strong preventative measure against cheating, which scans a player’s complete interaction with the game.
Arrowhead Studios decided to use the GameGuard program to fight back against cheating in the original Helldivers. This was a major issue with the first Helldivers, where exploits would destroy the progression and experiences of honest players, like when players would illicitly unlock maximum in-game research credits.
Player Backlash and Technical Issues
Since Helldivers 2 came out, players have mentioned issues related to GameGuard’s kernel-level access. This includes stuttering framerates, longer load times, and even system crashes, particularly on PCs with specific configurations like AMD hardware.
The access that the anti-cheat offered at such a deep level of the system also raised some privacy concerns among players. Specifically, they were questioning the anti-cheat’s need in the first place because Helldivers 2 is cooperative in nature, so players would be less likely to cheat against other players.
Anti-Cheat Wars and Controversies
At first, last year, Technical Director Peter Lindgren firmly backed GameGuard on Steam. He stressed its efficacy against cheating and reassured players that it only ran while the game was running. He also mentioned that players would notice no performance impacts and wouldn’t have to be concerned about any privacy compromise.
However, technical problems began to persist related to delayed performance, crashing, and large file size after updates in 2025. The players began to complain more about GameGuard and even demanded for a review or removal of GameGuard.
Developer Response and Current Status
Shams Jorjani, Arrowhead’s CEO, made it very clear to the public that he was aware of the growing concerns from the community. Consequently, he said the studio was officially ”looking into” whether or not to remove the GameGuard system. This is a major change from prior statements, where they dismissed the performance in connection to the anti-cheat.
Jorjani said the team’s first order of business is to get a critical patch delivered for Helldivers 2. And then, they will take on the controversial GameGuard situation, calling it one “other hydra head” to take care of.
Furthermore, the dev team also indicated its intent to slow down the cadence of content updates. This is so they can dedicate time to resolving technical issues and optimizing performance.
Conclusion
The whole GameGuard situation in Helldivers 2 really shows the tough balance that developers have to strike between defending their games against cheaters and how to keep their players happy. Removing cheating from a game does come with technical challenges. However, it looks like the developers are now in a position to really listen to player concerns for change.
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