Microsoft removes Assassin’s Creed Windows 11 upgrade blocks
Earlier this week, Ubisoft released Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Assassin’s Creed Origins patches to fix Windows 11 24H2 compatibility issues that caused crashes, freezes, and audio problems.
In late November, Microsoft blocked Windows 24H2 upgrades on PCs with Assassin’s Creed, Star Wars Outlaws, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, following a stream of user complaints on Reddit [1, 2] and the Microsoft Answers forums [1, 2, 3] that the games were no longer working correctly.
“These games might become unresponsive while starting, loading or during active gameplay. In some cases, users might receive a black screen,” the company says on its Windows release health dashboard.
Gamers affected by this known issue were particularly frustrated as they had already reported these issues in the Windows Insider Feedback Hub, on Reddit, and other online platforms while Windows 11 24H2 was still in preview.
According to the reports, the issues appear erratically. Some affected users say the games immediately crash after launch, while others say they crash, freeze, or display a black screen a few minutes after loading saved games.
Roughly two weeks after first acknowledging these issues, Microsoft lifted the safeguard holds for Windows 11 PCs with Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Star Wars Outlaws after Ubisoft released temporary hotfixes that fixed the crashes (although affected gamers might still experience performance issues).
Microsoft lifts Assassin’s Creed safeguard holds
This week, Ubisoft also released Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Assassin’s Creed Origins patches to fix the Windows 11 24H2 compatibility issue, while Microsoft removed all relevant compatibility holds.
“Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, Origins, and Valhalla are no longer affected by this issue due to fixes deployed by Ubisoft,” the company says in an update to the Windows health dashboard.
“These updates have resolved the compatibility issues with Windows 11, version 24H2, ensuring that players can now enjoy these games without previous disruptions. The safeguard hold (ID 54437462) that was previously in place has been lifted as of 1/16/2025 to exclude these games.
“Note that it may take up to 48 hours for the Windows 11, version 24H2 update to be offered via Windows Update for devices with these games. Restarting your device might expedite the process.”
Microsoft has also started a forced Windows 11 24H2 rollout this week to eligible, non-managed systems running the Home and Pro editions of Windows 11 22H2 and 23H2.
Other safeguards blocking the forced Windows 11 upgrades include PCs with Auto HDR enabled, running Dirac audio improvement software and the Asphalt 8 (Airborne) game, and some ASUS devices. The list also includes systems with an integrated camera or running the Safe Exam Browser and the Easy Anti-Cheat applications.
