If the game refuses to recognize your save, you can trick it by forcing a new save creation and then swapping it with your original data.
Before applying fixes, it helps to understand why this error happens. The game searches for a specific file named STORM4.S (or similar depending on the platform). If this file is moved, corrupted, or blocked by system permissions, the game assumes no save data exists. Common triggers include: Steam Cloud synchronization failures. If the game refuses to recognize your save,
Many users have reported that Windows Defender "Controlled Folder Access" prevents the game from reading the save path. Disable this in . If this file is moved, corrupted, or blocked
This workaround has helped many players bypass save corruption issues: Disable this in
: Windows blocks the game from reading or writing to your standard document folders.
To fix the error, you must resolve the Steam client mismatch , fix corrupted files , or correct missing DLC folder paths that prevent the game from reading your local progress .