Microsoft’s recent Windows 11 update is breaking games

By Patrick Hearn Published December 31, 2024

Until now, players have been able to enjoy Assassin’s Creed: Origins on PC with few problems, but the most recent Windows 11 update has thrown a wrench into things. Now players are review bombing Assassin’s Creed: Origins with complaints of crashes, blue screens, freezing, and a lot more. There’s one thing to keep in mind, though: the Windows update is to blame, not the game itself. Origins isn’t the only game affected by the update, either.

A user named The Hidden One — appropriate for a subject like Assassin’s Creed — shared the news on X. Recent reviews have a mixed rating, and the bar graph shows a distinct spike in negative reviews since the update. Of course, it’s understandable why fans reacted that way; Ubisoft doesn’t have the best track record with PC ports. Then again, that’s not just a Ubisoft problem.

Assassin's Creed Origins is getting bombed with negative reviews because of Microsoft’s 24H2 Windows 11 update which has bricked the game for a lot of people. Black screens, crashes, and freezes, and still no fixes yet. pic.twitter.com/kldzId77HY

— The Hidden One (@TheHiddenOneAC) December 30, 2024

The update primarily seems to mess with games that use AutoHDR and, for whatever reason, Ubisoft titles specifically. Aside from Origins, two other Assassin’s Creedgames have exhibited crashes: Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. The issue isn’t exactly new; the problem has persisted for around a week now, and Microsoft hasn’t supplied players with updates on when they can expect a fix.

Some members of the community have reported solving the issue by disabling AutoHDR. Simply turning off the setting is enough to stabilize a lot of the games, but Ubisoft players seem to be disproportionately impacted. Other Reddit users have also said the update affects Path of Exile 2 and Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, too.

These are temporary fixes that work for the moment, but until Microsoft releases a patch or hotfix that will resolve the issues this update introduced, certain games may have spotty performance.