In 2024, Microsoft started rolling out Windows 11 version 24H2, and devs and players both quickly discovered that this update was wreaking havoc with a number of Ubisoft games. While some games have been fixed, issues still abound in the trilogy of Assassin's Creed Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla, and the first of those titles in particular is paying the price on Steam.
On November 22 last year, Microsoft confirmed that a handful of Ubisoft games were prone to "become unresponsive while starting, loading or during active gameplay" due to the effects of 24H2. Updates to Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Star Wars Outlaws quickly fixed the issues in those games, but the slightly older Assassin's Creed titles are still suffering.
Currently, Windows 11 will not download the 24H2 update if you have any affected game installed, so if you've been slowly trekking through Origins since before the rollout, you'll still be okay. But if you've recently purchased a title like Origins - which just happened to go down to $5.99 as part of the recent Steam Winter Sale - you'll likely already have 24H2 installed and might be in for a very bad time.
Origins holds a "very positive" Steam rating overall with 85% positive reviews, but within the last 30 days those reviews have dropped to a "mixed" 61% rating. While a handful of the negative reviews focus on the content of the game itself - or general complaints about Ubisoft as a whole - the vast majority are pointed at the 24H2 update and the crashes that have come as a result.
In a post pinned to the game's Steam forum, a dev says that "Ubisoft and Microsoft are working on a resolution and will provide more information when it is available." Oddly, while this same message is pinned in the forums for Odyssey and Valhalla, too, it's only Origins that's getting the negative review treatment. Perhaps everybody who picked up some Assassin's Creed in the Steam sale was just trying to make their start with Origins.
Anecdotally, I was able to fire up Origins on my PC with 24H2 installed, and didn't have any issues - but that's with just a few minutes of testing. Your mileage may vary here, but here's hoping Ubisoft and Microsoft get this fixed for all affected players sooner rather than later.
There are a load of upcoming Assassin's Creed games on the way, and Assassin's Creed Shadows is coming in very soon.
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