As the highly anticipated Marvel Rivals makes its way to PC, many players have encountered a common nemesis not from the Marvel universe, but from their own operating system: performance issues. Reports of stuttering, debilitating lag, and even game crashes have prompted the community to seek solutions, and one widely circulated fix involves a specific Windows security feature: Control Flow Guard (CFG).
While seemingly counter-intuitive to tweak security settings for gaming, a significant number of Marvel Rivals players have found relief by disabling CFG for the game’s executable. This guide will walk you through the steps to potentially alleviate your performance woes, alongside crucial considerations before you make the change.
Understanding the Guard: What is Control Flow Guard (CFG)?
Before diving into the “how-to,” it’s essential to understand “what-is.” Control Flow Guard (CFG) is a robust security feature integrated into Windows. Its primary purpose is to safeguard against certain types of memory corruption exploits by meticulously monitoring the flow of code execution within an application.
While this vigilance undeniably strengthens your system’s defenses, it can, paradoxically, sometimes introduce performance bottlenecks or stuttering, particularly in demanding applications like modern video games.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Disabling CFG for Marvel Rivals
If you’re experiencing performance hiccups in Marvel Rivals, follow these steps to selectively disable CFG for the game:
1. Access Exploit Protection Settings:
- Press the Windows key on your keyboard.
- In the search bar that appears, type “Exploit Protection.”
- Click on the “Exploit protection” option that pops up in the search results.
2. Navigate to Program Settings:
- Within the Exploit Protection window, you’ll see two tabs: “System settings” and “Program settings.”
- Click on the “Program settings” tab.
3. Add the Marvel Rivals Executable:
- Click the “Add program to customize” button.
- From the dropdown menu, select “Choose exact file path.”
- A file explorer window will open. You’ll need to navigate to your Marvel Rivals installation folder.
- For Steam users: This is typically located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\MarvelRivals.
- If you installed the game elsewhere, navigate to that specific directory.
- Select the main game executable file, which is usually named MarvelRivals.exe or something similar.
- Pro Tip: Some players have also found success by repeating this process for executables found in subfolders, such as
binaries/win64, if applicable.
4. Adjust Control Flow Guard Settings:
- After successfully adding the Marvel Rivals executable, scroll down the list of program settings until you locate the “Control Flow Guard (CFG)” section.
- You’ll see a checkbox labeled “Override system settings.” Check this box.
- Once overridden, you’ll be able to switch the setting from “On” to “Off.”
5. Apply and Restart:
- Click the “Apply” button at the bottom of the window.
- Confirm any prompts that may appear.
- For the changes to take effect, it’s crucial to restart Marvel Rivals. In some cases, a full PC restart might also be necessary.
100% Win Rate Smurfs
For only 16,99 €
Should You Disable CFG? Weighing Performance Against Security
While disabling CFG has proven to be an effective remedy for stuttering and performance issues in Marvel Rivals for many players, it’s vital to understand the implications. Disabling CFG effectively lowers a layer of security for that specific application.
Security experts generally advise only turning off CFG for trusted applications and games. It is strongly recommended not to disable CFG for programs that regularly access the internet, handle sensitive personal data, or are otherwise critical to your system’s security. Always meticulously weigh the potential performance benefit against the slight increase in security risk for the particular application.
Community Consensus: A Popular, Yet Variable, Fix
The community feedback surrounding this CFG fix for Marvel Rivals has been largely positive. Numerous players have reported significantly smoother gameplay and a noticeable reduction in crashes after implementing this change.
However, it’s important to temper expectations; results can vary from system to system. Some users might experience no discernible improvement, while others might prefer to keep all security features enabled out of caution.
If you don’t observe any improvement after disabling CFG, or if you have lingering concerns about security, it’s always recommended to re-enable the feature for Marvel Rivals.
In Summary
Disabling Control Flow Guard for Marvel Rivals offers a straightforward, community-tested method to potentially resolve performance issues like stuttering and lag. Executed through Windows’ Exploit Protection settings, it’s a quick fix for many frustrated players. However, like any security modification, it calls for careful consideration. Proceed with caution, apply the fix only to trusted games, and always prioritize your overall system security.
Written by:
Christian