Warhammer: 40,000: Space Marine stuck on a black screen? Try this potential fix

If you’re firing up Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine and getting stuck on a black screen before your Operation even starts, you’re not alone. Players across consoles and PCs are reporting this annoying bug, where the screen goes black right after the ship launches. You can still hear sounds – footsteps, music, the whole battle barge atmosphere – but nothing loads. Here’s a video of the problem shared on Reddit:

Luckily, there’s a simple trick that’s working for a lot of players.

The quick fix: Walk forward 9 steps

When the screen goes black, stay calm and listen closely. You should hear sounds as if you’re still on the loading dock. At this point, take about nine steps straight forward. It might feel strange since you can’t see anything, but keep going. This movement often triggers the game to load properly, as if you’re stepping back into the “launch rectangle” on the platform. After these nine steps, many players report that the screen finally loads, transporting them into the Operation.

Multiple players have confirmed that this workaround works well: “This was a glitch on PC at launch! The fix then was that you could walk forward as though you were at the terminal, and when you ended up back where the launch rectangle would be, it loads you into the OP.” This bug, previously affecting PC players, now seems to be hitting console players too, and thankfully, the same fix seems to work across platforms.

Why this works

It seems like the game sometimes fails to complete the loading process, and moving forward helps “reset” your position back onto the launch platform. This trick is reportedly a leftover from an older PC bug, so hopefully, the developers will patch it soon for consoles too.

Extra tips

• Play with headphones: It helps to use headphones, so you can better hear your character’s footsteps or the ambient sounds in the battle barge.
• Try a restart if all else fails: If the trick doesn’t work, some players have had success by restarting the game or even rebooting their console.

Hopefully, this fix gets you back into the action and off that black screen. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine fans, if this helped you out or if you found another trick, keep spreading the word!