Windows 11 24H2 update faces gaming issues — devices with Asphalt 8, older versions of Easy Anti-Cheat on compatibility hold

Windows 11 24H2 just launched yesterday, and the latest version of Microsoft’s flagship OS is already experiencing several issues, especially for gamers. According to Microsoft’s Windows release health page, the update has two major known gaming-related issues: Asphalt 8 occasionally crashes after installing the update, while users running a version of the Easy Anti-Cheat app released before April 2024 get a ‘MEMORY_MANAGEMENT’ BSOD error.

Because of these issues, the systems with these apps are on compatibility hold, so you cannot get the 24H2 via the built-in Windows Update app. Furthermore, if you try to upgrade an affected computer via other methods, you’ll get a warning that your PC is not ready for the latest Windows 11 version. At the moment, Microsoft and the respective developers of the affected apps are working to resolve the issue. However, the company also recommends updating your games in the hopes that “a compatible version of Easy Anti-Cheat is also included in the game’s update.”

This isn’t the first time Microsoft has experienced a hiccup with its automatic updates. An optional KB5043145 Windows 11 Preview update, released a day before Windows 11 24H2, has been wreaking havoc with reboots and BSODs, forcing it to distribute a Known Issue Rollback (KIR) that automatically removes it from affected systems.

These update issues are likely a significant headache for the Redmond company, but it’s expected to be tough, if impossible, to avoid it altogether. After all, unlike Apple, which only has to deal with a handful of hardware configurations for macOS, there is probably an infinite number of system specifications that it must ensure is compatible with every update and version of Windows it releases. Even though Microsoft tries to mitigate these issues with the Windows Insider Program and its over 7 million members, it’s still insufficient to cover every hardware configuration in the over 400 million devices that have Windows 11.

Nevertheless, we’re still glad that Microsoft recognizes these issues. We expect the company to release a fix for this update in the coming days, so, hopefully, Asphalt 8 and online multiplayer fans can get back to gaming with the latest version of Windows 11 on their gaming PCs.