How To Resolve Grounded 2 Crash on Startup (UE Augusta Fatal Error)

Dealing with Grounded 2 crashing right on startup, especially with that UE Augusta Fatal Error message, is beyond annoying. It happens so quickly, before even the game gets a chance to load properly, and it’s usually linked to core Unreal Engine files or system issues. If you’re on Steam, Xbox, or the EA App, you’ve probably already tried reinstalling, but that doesn’t always cut it. The good news is, there are several fixes that can actually resolve this without wiping everything—though some of them are kinda technical or involve deep settings tinkering.

These crashes tend to be caused by outdated drivers, corrupted game files, or system configs that aren’t playing nice with Unreal Engine. Sometimes, a BIOS update or tweaking graphics options can also make a difference. If your system is on the edge hardware-wise, turning down some heavy features can prevent it from hiccuping at launch. In the worst cases, clearing cache files helps Unreal rebuild its engine environment from scratch. Hopefully, by following these steps, Grounded 2 can finally get past the crash and actually start.

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

Restart Your PC

Yeah, it sounds super basic, but restarting clears out all sorts of temp glitches, frees up memory, and resets driver states. On some setups, this alone has been enough to let Grounded 2 run smoothly. Just hit Ctrl + Alt + Delete and pick restart. After that, try launching the game again. Weird thing is, it might not fix everything, but it’s always worth a shot before diving into more complicated fixes.

Update Graphics Drivers

This is a biggie. Outdated GPU drivers are the leading cause of Unreal Engine errors popping up unexpectedly. You want the latest, clean install—especially if you’re pushing your hardware with recent Windows updates or new game releases. Here’s the trick:

Go to NVIDIA or AMD’s official site.
Download the latest drivers for your specific GPU model.
Choose the Custom Install option during setup, and tick Perform a clean installation. That skips leftover residuals of old drivers messing with new ones.
Reboot your PC after install, then try launching Grounded 2 again.

On some machines, this process can be finicky or the driver update might fail silently once in a while, so make sure to double-check that the drivers are actually installed correctly. Either way, newer drivers tend to handle Unreal Engine better, so it’s worth the effort.

Verify Game Files

Corrupted game files are sneaky. Download hiccups or interrupted patches can corrupt parts of Grounded 2, which then trips Unreal’s startup routines. Verifying integrity checks often fixes this. Depending on your launcher:

Steam: Right-click Grounded 2 > Properties > Local Files > Verify Integrity of Game Files.
EA App or Xbox App: Click on the game, then select options like Manage > Repair or Verify and Repair.

This process can take a few minutes, but it will replace any missing or corrupted files—sometimes solving UE-related crashes at the root.

Update BIOS (If You Have Newer Intel CPUs)

Now, here’s a weird one. If you’re rocking a 13th or 14th-generation Intel CPU, maybe your BIOS version is too old to properly support the microcode updates needed for Unreal Engine games to run stably. Some folks noticed that updating their motherboard’s BIOS to the latest version (or microcode 0x12B+) helped keep Grounded 2 from crashing at launch.

Here’s a rough outline:

Check your motherboard model. Usually found in your system info or BIOS itself.
Head to the motherboard manufacturer’s site—like ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte—and download the latest BIOS firmware.
Follow their official flashing instructions—some use BIOS flash utilities, others might require USB drives or within BIOS screens.
Power cycle, then test the game again.

Note: BIOS flashing can be risky—make sure to follow guides specific to your motherboard, and don’t do it on a shaky power connection. Because of course, Windows has to make it harder than necessary.

Turn Off Heavy Graphics Features

This is often overlooked, but Unreal Engine games—especially newer titles—can choke if you push high-end features on a system that’s borderline. Ray tracing, DLSS, high-res textures, ambient occlusion, motion blur—all these can push your GPU and trigger crashes if they’re not handled well. Lowering these settings can give the game a better chance to initialize properly and avoid that nasty UE Augusta error.

Try these tweaks:

Reduce texture quality and shadow settings.
Disable ray tracing and DLSS.
Turn off ambient occlusion, motion blur, and film grain effects.
Switch to windowed borderless mode—sometimes the game crashes less in this windowed mode.

And honestly, this helps with low FPS too. Not sure why, but Unreal maxed-out features sometimes just overload the engine on mid-range rigs.

Clear Unreal Engine Cache Files

This one’s kind of weird, but when cache files get corrupted—maybe because of a failed update or crash during save—Unreal Engine throws a fit. Clearing these forces the engine to rebuild itself fresh, which often unsticks it from the crash loop.

Here’s what to do:

Press Win + R, type `%localappdata%`, and hit Enter.
Navigate to `Grounded2/Saved/Config/Windows` and `DerivedDataCache` folders.
Delete these folders—don’t worry, they’ll be recreated on launch.
Try launching Grounded 2 again and see if it gets past the crash.

On some setups, you might need to repeat this or do it after a game update, but it’s often the magic fix for that UE Augusta message.

Wrap-up

Most Grounded 2 crashes on startup linked to the UE Augusta fatal error boil down to driver issues, outdated BIOS, or engine cache glitches. The good news is, the steps above have rescued plenty of players without a full reinstall or system wipe. Starting with rebooting and updating drivers usually covers most bases, then moving to cache cleanup or BIOS updates if needed works well. Turning down graphics settings at the start can also prevent this from happening repeatedly. Still, it’s a lot to troubleshoot, but hopefully, this helps speed things up.

FAQs

What is the UE Augusta Fatal Error in Grounded 2?

It’s basically Unreal Engine crashing during startup, showing up as “UE Augusta.” Could be driver issues, corrupted files, or hardware conflicts that stop the engine from initializing properly.

Why does Grounded 2 crash immediately after launching?

Usually because the GPU is overload, the drivers are too old, or the cache files got messed up. Unreal Engine just can’t hook into the system early enough to finish startup.

Can this crash happen because of BIOS issues on newer Intel CPUs?

Yep, especially on 13th and 14th-gen Intel rigs. If the BIOS is outdated, Unreal Engine’s microcode might not be supported well enough, causing crashes at launch.

Do high graphics settings lead to this error in Grounded 2?

Sometimes. Heavy settings like ray tracing or RTX can push your GPU too hard if drivers aren’t perfect, which might cause Unreal to crash right away.

How do I tell if Unreal cache is causing the crashes?

If game files and drivers are all good, but Grounded 2 just won’t launch, try deleting the cache folders from %localappdata%.Unreal will rebuild them on next startup—works most of the time.

Will reinstalling Grounded 2 fix this?

Not always. Sometimes, it’s the cache or config files that cause the crash, not the actual installation. Deleting cache folders or verifying files might do the trick before a full reinstall.