Ubisoft Games Face Issues on Windows 11 24H2 Update

Ubisoft has confirmed that several of its popular games, including Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Assassin's Creed Origins, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Star Wars Outlaws, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, may become unresponsive on devices running the latest Windows 11 24H2 update. Players have reported crashes, black screens, and severe performance issues during gameplay. In response, Microsoft has implemented a compatibility hold to prevent affected devices from upgrading to this version until a resolution is found.

Issue details and workarounds

Microsoft's Windows bulletin detailed that the affected games might freeze during startup, loading, or active gameplay. Ubisoft has acknowledged the issue, particularly for Star Wars Outlaws, for which it deployed a temporary hotfix. However, players may still encounter reduced performance until a more permanent solution is implemented.

Reddit users have shared widespread experiences of crashes and glitches. For instance, in the Assassin's Creed Origins subreddit, users reported game crashes during fast travel, navigating menus, and gameplay, which began immediately after updating to Windows 11 24H2. Some gamers rolled back to previous versions of Windows to restore functionality, while others criticized the lack of a swift resolution. Similar issues were noted in other Ubisoft titles, with some players observing performance degradation even after clean installations of Windows or graphics drivers.

These issues impact some of Ubisoft's most prominent games:

• Assassin's Creed Origins (2017) and Odyssey (2018): Both are sprawling open-world RPGs set in ancient Egypt and Greece, respectively.
• Assassin's Creed Valhalla (2020): A critically acclaimed Viking-themed RPG.
• Star Wars Outlaws (2024): A newly launched space-faring adventure.
• Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (2024): A major release tied to James Cameron's cinematic universe.

To address the situation, Microsoft has recommended against manually updating to Windows 11 24H2 on affected devices using the Installation Assistant or Media Creation Tool. Devices with the problematic games installed will not receive the update through standard Windows Update channels. For users encountering frozen games, Microsoft suggests force closing the application via Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc and ending the game process.

Ubisoft and Microsoft are working jointly to identify the root cause and implement a comprehensive fix. Ubisoft's latest patch notes for Star Wars Outlaws (version 1.4.1) mention a temporary hotfix for Windows 11 24H2 compatibility but caution users about potential ongoing performance issues.

Given the size and popularity of these franchises, the disruptions affect a significant portion of Ubisoft's player base.

Next Steps

Players of the above titles on Windows 11 are recommended to do the following:

1. Delay updating to 24H2 until the issue is resolved.
2. Report detailed information to Ubisoft Support, including system specs, logs, and steps to replicate the issue.
3. Rolling back to Windows 11 23H2 may provide a temporary fix.

Microsoft has provided safeguard IDs (54437462 and 54580160) for IT administrators to monitor the issue's status via Windows Update for Business reports. Both companies have promised to update users as fixes are developed.