Download Syndicate (Windows)

Attention! Both NoDVDs showed a lot of generic warnings but they are safe to use! NoDVD by Skidrow showed 12 generic warnings, NoDVD by 3DM showed 32 generic warnings. NoDVDs are required to play the game, simply add the files to antivirus exceptions.

The game with NoDVD has been tested on Windows 7 64-bit, Windows 10 and Windows 11, it works fine. The game supports widescreen and high resolutions up to 4K. You may experience some small troubles when you play the game on modern systems, check our Guide and Notes for details

Install & play guide (for DVD version):

• Mount the disc image. You will need the utility for mounting disc image files, like WinCDEmu, UltraISO, Alcohol 52%/Alcohol 120% or Daemon Tools Lite. Or extract the files from ISO image with WinRAR, 7-zip or another file archiver tool
• Open the disc and find Syndicate.zip archive. Copy that archive to your hard drive, to some non-system folder, like D:/Games. Extract the archive, it includes the files of installed game
• (Extra note: if you try to run Autorun.exe or Setup.exe, it will start the installation of obsolete EA Origin app and will show the error)
• After you extracted Syndicate.zip archive - use NoDVD, simply copy the files from NoDVD and put them into Syndicate/System/Win32_x86_Release folder, agree to replace the original files. NoDVD by Skidrow is for 32-bit variants of Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 (maybe will work for 32-bit variants of Windows 8, 8.1 and 10), NoDVD by Fling (3DM Team) is for 64-bit variants of Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10 and 11
• Right click on Syndicate.exe in Syndicate/System/Win32_x86_Release folder -> Properties -> Compatibility -> Set "Run this app in Compatibility mode with Windows 7" and "Run as Administrator"
• Launch the game and play. If the game doesn't work in compatibility mode with Windows 7 - try to launch it in Compatibility mode with other version of Windows (Windows XP, Vista, etc.)

If the installation instruction sounds too complicated for you, you can use Setup variant, it has a simple installer but doesn't include NoDVD, you will need to use NoDVD after the installation. Or you can use repack by ElAmigos, it has a simple installer and features both NoDVDs to choice from

How to disable Bloom and tweak graphical settings:

• The game has pretty aggressive Bloom effect that can be uncomfortable for the eyes. If you want to disable Bloom effect, use Syndicate DeBloom mod, it disables Bloom effect and as a side effect, disables the blue color correction. To use the DeBloom mod you need to run the game without mod at least once, to create a config-file. Here's the example screenshots how the game looks with Bloom effect and without it
• If you don't like Post effects such as Lens Flares, Motion Blur or Film Grain, you can disable them in config-file - go to Documents/Syndicate folder, open Environment.cfg file in Notepad and change the next parameters: change XR_FLARES=-1 to XR_FLARES=0 to disable Lens Flares; change XR_MOTIONBLUR_DOF=1 to XR_MOTIONBLUR_DOF=0 to disable Motion Blur (that parameter will disable Depth of Field AND Motion Blur, when character is running glow will be also disabled and picture become darker); change XR_GRAIN=1 to XR_GRAIN=0 to disable Film Grain effect. If you want to return that Post effects back, just revert the changes of parameters
• You can also use Syndicate Advanced Config Tool to tweak all of graphical settings, like changing the screen resolution (you can enter custom resolutions too), changing the level of Anti-aliasing and Texture filtering, enabling/disabling Post effects, etc. Also, some of hidden graphical settings can be changed through in-game console, check this guide

Notes:

• If the installation doesn't start - try to launch Setup.exe in compatibility mode with old version of Windows (98, 2000 or XP)
• It is recommended to install all versions of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable and NET Framework for the correct work of the game. Also it is recommended to install K-Lite Codec Pack for the correct work of in-game videos
• The game works on DirectX 9, so if you're using Windows 8, 8.1, 10 or 11 - you need to enable DirectPlay: Go to Control Panel, and select 'Programs'. Select 'Turn Windows features on and off', click on 'Legacy Components' and check the box 'DirectPlay'. Select OK, once the installation is done, restart your computer
• About NoDVDs - the game was protected with combination of SecuROM 8 and EACore DRMs and required the online activation. NoDVDs are "cracking" DRM protection and allows to play the game. There were two NoDVDs for the game: NoDVD by Skidrow that works only on 32-bit variants of Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 (maybe will work for 32-bit variant of Windows 10 but we didn't test it), and NoDVD by Fling (3DM Team) that works on 64-bit variants of Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10 and 11. To use NoDVD simply replace the files in Syndicate/System/Win32_x86_Release folder. Both NoDVDs showed a lot of generic warnings but they are safe to use, just add NoDVD files to antivirus exceptions
• If the game doesn't run or crash on start-up, here's some tips. First make sure that you added NoDVD files to antivirus exceptions, and try to run the game directly from Syndicate.exe in Syndicate/System/Win32_x86_Release folder. Run Syndicate.exe in Compatibility mode with Windows 7 and as Administrator, if it didn't work - try Compatibility modes with other Windows (XP, Vista, etc.). If you have 2 or more graphics cards - select only one GPU for the game in video card control panel, additionally disable Crossfire/SLI if you use it. If you have a laptop with integrated and discrete GPUs - select discrete GPU for the game (if you use Nvidia, in Nvidia Control Panel open "Manage 3D settings" and select Preferred graphics processor, then the game will use discrete Nvidia GPU)
• If the game still doesn't start - try to add Syndicate.exe to exceptions of DEP (Data Execution Prevention), here's the guide with pictures how to add an app to DEP exceptions list. For users of Windows 10 & 11: if the game still doesn't run after you added it to DEP exceptions, or it crashes with 0xc0000005 error - that means that mandatory ASLR prevents game from running. To fix the error open Windows Defender, in App & browser control open Exploit protection settings, and in Program settings add an exception for Syndicate.exe and disable "Force randomization for images (Mandatory ASLR)"
• For users of Windows 11: on Windows 11, especially Windows 11 24H2, the game crashes after the first cutscene when the actual gameplay begins; usually that happens on newer GPUs or integrated GPUs. To fix the crash you need to use DXVK utility, to bypass D3D9 crash by converting DirectX 9 to Vulkan (you graphics card must have support of Vulkan API). Download the latest release of DXVK, extract the archive, open x32 folder and copy d3d9.dll and dxgi.dll files into Syndicate/System/Win32_x86_Release folder, next to Syndicate.exe. Then launch the game, it should work. If the game still crash, try to run it again, the game may crash on the first boot, but it should work correctly afterward
• For owners of Nvidia graphics cards: if the game crashes on your system, open Nvidia Control Panel and manage 3D Settings, set Threaded Optimization to ON. Also, if you have a laptop with Nvidia GPU and Nvidia Optimus utility, that utility might be the reason of crashes; if you have the installed Nvidia Optimus and the game crashes, configure the utility like in this guide
• If the game crashes with Visual C++ Runtime Error R6034 on start-up - go to Syndicate/System/Win32_x86_Release folder and remove or rename atiags.dll file
• If you get "Could not Activate" error on the launch - use NoDVD and make sure that your antivirus didn't delete the files of NoDVD. If you still get that error - go to Program Files (x86)/Electronic Arts/EA Services/License (for 32-bit Windows the path is the same but in Program Files) and remove 71061.dlf file
• The game had online cooperative mode but the official online service was shut down on June 15, 2023, so better do not try to launch Coop game, otherwise the game may crash, endlessly trying to connect to disconnected servers
• For owners of 11th and 12th gen Intel CPU: the game crashes on that CPUs because the versions of OpenSSL 1.0.2 beta to OpenSSL 1.0.2k contain bugs that either cause a crash or bad SHA (Secure Hash Algorithm) values on processors with the SHA extensions. That bugs were fixed years ago but still may cause the crash in old games or applications. To fix the crash you need to configure the settings of your system as in this guide
• The game has 6 languages, with full audio & text for English, French, German & Italian languages and text & subtitles for Spanish & Russian languages. You can easily change the language of installed game through Windows Registry. Press Win+R, type regedit.exe and press Enter to open Registry Editor, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Starbreeze\Syndicate path (if you use 32-bit system, the path is the same but without WOW6432Node) and change the Locale parameter: enter en_EN or en_US for English language, fr_FR for French, de_DE for German, it_IT for Italian, es_ES for Spanish, ru_RU for Russian. If you did everything correctly, the game should automatically change the language on the next launch, but if you still have the old language, go to Documents/Syndicate folder, open Environment.cfg file in Notepad and change DEFAULTGAMEPATH= and LANGUAGE= lines, that lines should be set to the language you need (the language's folder in the game directory), like if you want to set the Spanish language, it should be DEFAULTGAMEPATH=Content;Content_Spa, LANGUAGE=Spa
• There might be the game-breaking bugs on high framerates. The game has maximum framerate cap at 200 FPS, but there can be glitches and bugs on high framerate. As example, on DownZone Level the main character falls through the ground if the framerate is above 140 FPS. The solution is to set the framerate cap, either with one of framerate limiter utilities or by enabling Vertical Sync (Vsync) in the game, with Vsync the game will run with framerate equal to screen refresh rate (framerate in FPS = refresh rate in Hz, for example if you set 60 Hz refresh rate, the game will run with 60 FPS). The recommended framerate cap is somewhere between 60~120 FPS
• Enabling Vertical Sync (Vsync) in the game may result to mouse lag. If you notice that mouse movement is lagging, disable Vsync in the game and enable Vsync in control panel of your video card, for example, Nvidia Fast Sync will eliminate both mouse lag and tearing
• The game supports widescreen and high resolutions up to Ultra HD 4K. Unfortunately, the subtitles doesn't scale and can be too small to read at 4K, but all other text and HUD scales properly. The game doesn't let you to select some screen ratios and screen resolutions, like 15:9 screen ratio or 1360x768 resolution; but you can enable them through config-file: go to Documents/Syndicate folder, open Environment.cfg file in Notepad and set VID_DWIDTH= and VID_DHEIGHT= to the desired values (for example, if you want to set 1920x1080 screen resolution, enter VID_DWIDTH=1920 and VID_DHEIGHT=1080). Tweaking graphical details will not alter the resolution setting. That way you can set any desired screen resolution, even for ultra-wide displays or multi-monitor setups, check WSGF page for more details and example screenshots
• The default Field of View (FOV) in the game is 70°, and it is not possible to change FOV in the game. To change FOV in the game use Syndicate FOV mod - choose a fitting FOV and copy its GameClasses_Win32_x86_Release.dll file to Syndicate/Content folder. Please note that modified FOV doesn't scale well with Iron-sights, also on Windows 10 & 11 this hack may result in game's not being able to save its settings and campaign progress
• If you want to run the game in Windowed mode, go to Documents/Syndicate folder, open Environment.cfg file in Notepad and in the line VID_FULLSCREEN_WINDOWED_TOGGLE_ENABLED=0 enter 1 instead of 0. Save the changes, now when you run the game next time you'll be able to toggle between Fullscreen and Windowed modes by pressing Alt+Enter. That edit of config-file is also required if you want to run the game through Borderless Gaming app
• If you have no sound or weak sound when you play the game on Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7, try the methods from this guide. Additionally, try to change the system's sound quality to 24 bit, 48000 Hz or 24 bit, 44100 Hz, here's the guide how to do that
• The game has controller support but only for XInput-type controllers (Xbox gamepad or similar). If you have another type of gamepad or the game doesn't recognize your controller - try to use one of the additional tools from PCGamingWiki guide for controllers. If you want to remap the controller, go to Documents/Syndicate/SaveGames/default folder and open _ profile file in Notepad, the mappings marked with the “2” e.g *ACTION_SPRINT2 166
• There's a bug in the game that if you have both the keyboard and gamepad connected, the game will be showing only the gamepad controls. To fix it make sure that any physical gamepads or joysticks are unplugged, additionally check any gamepad entries in Device Manager as in this guide. If it didn't help, you will need to HeX-edit MSystem.dll file of the game to remove the controller support, here's the guide how to do that (don't forget to make a back-up copy of original file!)
• If you have a gaming software by Logitech, such as an utilities for Logitech G-series keyboard or Logitech SetPoint tool - you need to manually create a profile for the game, because Logitech gaming software doesn't create profiles for the game automatically. Follow this guide how to create a profile for the game in Logitech gaming software
• Don't forget to check PCGamingWiki if you have troubles, it is very useful!