How To Resolve Grounded 2 Startup Crash and UE Augusta Fatal Error

Getting Grounded 2 to launch without crashing on startup — specifically with that “UE Augusta Fatal Error” — can be kind of a nightmare. It’s especially annoying because the crash happens almost immediately, right as the game tries to load Unreal Engine’s core files. The message usually pops up saying, “An Unreal process has crashed: UE Augusta, ” and then boom, the game closes. If you’ve seen this pop up multiple times, chances are it’s tied to your system’s GPU drivers, BIOS settings, or even some cached files getting corrupted. Some folks even say it persists after reinstalling, which can really make it seem like the problem’s baked into the game files itself.

Basically, this isn’t a dead-end — most of the time, it’s something fixable. The goal here is to troubleshoot the common culprits: drivers, BIOS, cache, and graphics features. Getting past this crash means you can actually enjoy Grounded 2 instead of banging your head against the wall every time you hit launch.

Easy Steps to Fix Grounded 2 Crash on Startup (UE Augusta Fatal Error)

Restart Your PC

Starting with the classics. Sometimes your system’s just tired — background processes hanging around, driver hiccups, or memory leaks. Restarting clears most of that out, giving the game a fresh shot at running. It’s especially worth trying if this crash just started happening out of nowhere.

Make sure to fully shut down and then restart. On some setups, this can reset your GPU and RAM, especially if they’ve been in use for a while. Not sure why, but a reboot has fixed weird startup errors for a ton of people, including me, so it’s worth a shot before diving into more involved fixes.

Update Graphics Drivers

If Grounded 2 crashes immediately, outdated or corrupted graphics drivers are likely the main enemy. Whether you’re on NVIDIA or AMD, it’s crucial to grab the latest driver release — especially the Game Ready drivers that are optimized for newer titles. Sometimes, driver updates include bug fixes or compatibility tweaks that handle Unreal Engine quirks better.

Here’s how to do it, no fancy tool needed:

• Head over to NVIDIA’s driver download page or AMD’s driver support site.
• Choose your GPU model, then download the latest driver—preferably the ‘clean install’ option if it’s available.
• Once installed, restart your PC (again, that helps more than you think).
• Try launching Grounded 2 again. On some setups, the crash stops here or becomes less frequent.

Verify Grounded 2 Game Files

Corrupted game files can trigger Unreal Engine errors — that’s no secret. If your game files got messed up during download, update, or due to disk errors, it might lead to the UE Augusta crash. Verifying integrity is a simple way to catch and fix these issues.

Depending on what launcher you’re using:

• Steam: Right-click the game in your Library > select Properties > go to Local Files > hit Verify Integrity of Game Files.
• EA App or Xbox App: Navigate to Manage for your game > click Repair or Verify and Repair.

This process will check the game’s files and redownload any missing or corrupted bits. Fair warning: sometimes, this takes a while, but it’s usually worth it.

Update BIOS (Especially for Intel 13th/14th Gen CPUs)

This one’s for folks rocking the newer Intel chips. If your BIOS is super old, Unreal Engine — and thus Grounded 2 — might be crashing because your system isn’t supporting some of the newer CPU microcode features needed for stable game performance. Many players report fixing the crash by updating BIOS to a version with microcode 0x12B or newer.

Here’s the general gist:

• Check your motherboard model (like MSI, ASUS, Gigabyte).
• Go to their official support/download page.
• Download the latest BIOS version for your board.
• Follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully to flash/update BIOS — usually involves creating a USB boot device or using dedicated utilities.
• Once done, reboot, then try opening Grounded 2 again.

This step is a bit technical, so proceed with caution. On some motherboards, a BIOS update has been a game-changer for preventing these early Unreal Engine crashes.

Lower Heavy Graphics Features

Grounded 2 can be a GPU hog, especially with ray tracing, high-res textures, and other eye candy enabled. If your GPU is near its limit or drivers aren’t quite there yet, Unreal might crash trying to load all that heavy stuff.

To reduce the risk:

• Drop texture quality, shadows, and reflections to medium or low.
• Disable ray tracing and DLSS (or FSR if you’re on AMD).
• Turn off ambient occlusion, motion blur, and any post-processing effects that aren’t essential.
• Run the game in borderless windowed mode, which can sometimes improve stability.

This keeps GPU load lighter and prevents it from reaching it’s breaking point. Plus, it can smooth out performance dips in-game and make crashes less likely.

Clear Unreal Engine Cache Files

Sometimes, these nasty fatal crashes happen because Unreal’s cache files got corrupted, especially after updates or abrupt shutdowns. Deleting the cache folder forces Unreal Engine to regenerate a fresh set of core files, which can fix that persistent UE Augusta error.

Here’s what to do:

• Press Win + R, type %localappdata%, and hit Enter.
• Navigate to Grounded2/Saved/Config/Windows and also look for the DerivedDataCache folder.
• Delete both folders — just remove them altogether.
• Launch Grounded 2 again. It will rebuild the cache, which often resolves the startup crash issues.

Conclusion

Most times, Grounded 2 crashing with that UE Augusta error isn’t some mysterious curse — it’s related to driver issues, system updates, or cache corruption. Doing the usual stuff like updating drivers, verifying game files, and clearing caches solves the majority of cases. If you’re running on an Intel 13th or 14th gen CPU, a BIOS update might be the trick. Also, dialing down graphics can help when things get unstable.

It’s kind of a pain, but these fixes have helped many folks get past that early crash, so persistence pays off. Just remember, sometimes it’s a game of trial and error — what worked on one system might not on another. Keep at it and you’ll probably get back into Grounded 2 sooner than you think.

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