Assassin’s Creed Origins Gets Review-Bombed Due to Microsoft Windows Game Wrecking Update

The 2017 action role-playing game Assassin’s Creed Origins, developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft, is facing review bombing due to compatibility issues with Windows 11.

The tenth major installment in the Assassin’s Creed series has seen its Steam page flooded with negative reviews from players, citing issues caused by a Windows 11 update that has made the game nearly unplayable.

The issue dates back to November 2024, when Microsoft’s 24H2 update for Windows 11 caused severe compatibility issues with several Ubisoft games, including Assassin’s Creed Origins, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Star Wars Outlaws, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.

Affected players reported crashes they got on game launching, loading screens, and active gameplay. Some users reported black screens that forced them to restart the whole system.

Frustration in the community increased in December 2024 after Assassin’s Creed Origins went on sale on Steam despite its ongoing issues. The title accumulated a bunch of negative reviews as players who purchased the discounted game discovered its unplayable state. As a result, the game’s recent user rating on Steam is downgraded from “Very Positive” to “Mixed.”

Ubisoft has acknowledged the issue and confirmed that it is working with Microsoft to resolve the problem. The company’s representative on Steam under the nickname Ubi-oof stated:

Microsoft has also addressed the situation, implementing a temporary block on the 24H2 update for systems with affected Ubisoft games installed. In a statement on its support website, the corporation behind Windows warned users to avoid updating manually via the Windows 11 Installation Assistant or media creation tools.

Assassin’s Creed is one of the main Ubisoft franchises alongside such titles as Far Cry, Just Dance, Prince of Persia, Rabbids, Rayman, Tom Clancy’s, and Watch Dogs. Total sales of all series reached over 200 million copies in 2024, while Assassin’s Creed Origins counted more than 10 million copies.

In 2024, Ubisoft has been grappling with a series of setbacks, including disappointing sales for Star Wars Outlaws, delays for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and mass layoffs. Reports suggest that on top of all issues, Ubisoft is in buyout discussions with Chinese tech giant Tencent.