Microsoft is no longer offering the Windows 11 24H2 update to PCs that have certain Ubisoft Games installed after numerous users reported game crashes following the update.
In a statement acknowledging the issue, Microsoft said it is working with Ubisoft to fix it and "will provide more information when it is available." Until then, Microsoft says, users should refrain from installing Windows 11 manually.
The affected games include Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Assassin's Creed Origins, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Star Wars Outlaws, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. Ubisoft has released a temporary fix for Star Wars Outlaws, but users might still face performance issues, Microsoft warns.
Several users have been complaining on Reddit and the Microsoft Answers forum for weeks about issues they have encountered. Common issues include black screen freezing and unresponsiveness while loading the game or during gameplay.
"I just bought a new gaming laptop with RTX 4080, Intel i9 14900hx. I can't play the game (Origins) even for 5 minutes because it crashes to a black screen, with audio, and the only way to close it is from task manager. Impossible to play," said one user.
"Thousands of people are waiting for fixes and the ability to play their favorite games after updating to 24H2, without the ubiquitous error NTDLL.dll," said another.
To mitigate the game freezing issue on Windows 11 24H2, Microsoft suggests users force-quit the game through Task Manager until a permanent solution is available. It may eventually offer the update to impacted users after a fix has been released.
Last month, Microsoft's substantial 24H2 update caused problems for those with competitive multiplayer games that use Epic's Easy Anti-Cheat software, including Apex Legends, Fortnite, Call of Duty, and Rocket League. On Oct. 26, an independent forum advisor for Microsoft said that Microsoft was still working with Easy Anti-Cheat's developers on a fix. This month, at least three other users reported that this issue still hadn't been resolved. Certain Intel CPUs also have compatibility issues with this update, as well.