Helldivers 2 anti-cheat – nProtect GameGuard explained

Want to learn more about Helldivers 2 anti-cheat?

While Helldivers 2 is off to a great start on Steam, some negative reviews cite its anti-cheat implementation as a drawback. If you’re wondering why a game that doesn’t have competitive PvP has this and why players are worried, we’ve got you covered.

For more on Helldivers 2, check out its trophies and crossplay support.

Helldivers 2 anti-cheat explained

Helldivers 2 uses nProtect GameGuard, a kernel-level anti-cheat. While an anti-cheat running at the kernel level might worry most players, nearly every anti-cheat implementation does the same thing. While this may cause security and performance concerns, technical director Peter Lindgren defended the choice. A lengthy Reddit post covers his response. Here are the major concerns he covered.

Will nProtect GameGuard Helldivers 2 stay on your PC after an uninstall

Peter Lindgren stated that ‘GameGuard is removed at the same time as the game is uninstalled. The installer and uninstaller for GameGuard are visibly included with the game in <install-dir>/tools/GGSetup.exe and <install-dir>/tools/gguninst.exe.’ It doesn’t collect any personally identifiable information.

And in terms of performance, he said ‘GameGuard is only active while the game is running and after thousands of hours of testing we’ve not noticed any noteworthy degradations of performance on our developer and QA workstations.’ Check out the Helldivers 2 system requirements, just to be on the safe side.

Why is Helldivers 2 kernel anti-cheat needed for a co-op PvE game

In addition to cheaters, he noted that ‘There’s this huge metagame going in the cloud which all players (and game clients) participate in. Even though we have other countermeasures in place, a cracked game client could make it easier to disrupt the Galactic War, which would sour everyone’s experience.’

He shared a Helldivers 1 anecdote on the same. ‘Shortly after release, we noticed there was a cheat going around which granted 9999 research samples. Unfortunately, any non-cheaters in the same mission would also be granted 9999 research samples. These non-cheating players now had their entire progression ruined through no fault of their own.’

Is nProtect GameGuard safe

While no anti-cheat solution is completely protected from attacks, nProtect GameGuard does an admirable job of blocking malicious applications from gaining access to applications. While this rootkit is seen as intrusive, it ensures a safe online environment for gamers.

Is a Helldivers 2 crack out

Despite the efforts of developer Arrowhead Game Studios, some players have indeed been able to hack Helldivers 2. Reddit players noticed two cheaters who managed to use the Recoilless Rifle with infinite ammo. As it’s a lethal explosive weapon, it makes a mockery of the enemy NPCs. It also grants rewards to non-cheaters, artificially boosting their progression by being in the same squad. This soured the gaming experience for them. Expect patches to fix this exploit and restore the game’s integrity.

While this addresses most of the concerns that players may have, it’s still prompting some negative user reviews over at Steam. That covers everything you need to know about anti-cheat in the game. For more on the game, check out our Helldivers 2 multiplayer guide. We’ve also covered how to level up fast in Helldivers 2.

Helldivers 2 anti-cheat FAQs

Can you disable anti-cheat in Helldivers 2?

No, this feature cannot be turned off.

What type of anti-cheat does the game use?

It uses nProtect GameGuard.