Windows 10 April 2019 ‘stable’ update will cause BSODs in some games

The Windows 10 April 2019 Update contains a change that causes some PC games to crash Windows with a blue screen of death. Not all games have fixed the issue, but Microsoft has confirmed that it will release an update anyway.

Okay, let’s be honest: most affected PC games have fixed the problem and don’t freeze your system. But some will, and we don’t know which ones. This change seems like a betrayal of Microsoft’s commitment to backwards compatibility. This is especially frustrating given that Windows 10 users do not have the option to opt out of these updates if they are playing a vulnerable game.

Update : Microsoft just announced that it will drop forced Windows 10 updates and give more control to PC users!

Why Fortnite (and not only) began to crash Windows

In development builds of the Windows 10 April 2019 Update, also known as 19H1, some anti-cheat programs required by games cause Windows to crash with a green screen of death, also known as GSOD. Green Screens of Death is how traditional Blue Screens of Death (BSOD) appear in Insider builds, so you’ll see a Blue Screen of Death if you encounter this error when the Windows 10 April 2019 Update becomes stable.

The most popular software was the BattlEye anti-cheat application used by Fortnite, which caused a GSOD and made Fortnite unplayable in Windows 10 development builds. It’s not just that the game isn’t playable — when you launched Fortnite, Windows crashed.

To protect Windows Insiders from system freezes, Microsoft installed an «update block» that prevented Windows Insiders with games like Fortnite installed from installing the latest builds of the operating system.

On March 28, Microsoft wrote: «Many games that use anti-cheat programs have released fixes for the issue causing PC errors (GSOD).» Microsoft also said it was removing the update block. But wait: Microsoft didn’t say all games fixed the problem.

Microsoft Confirms It: Some Games Cause BSODs

Here’s the problem: changing the operating system level caused the operating system software to hang. But Microsoft didn’t fix it at the operating system level. Instead, he simply expects game developers to fix their anti-cheat programs. This means that if you’re playing a game that hasn’t been patched yet, Windows will suddenly freeze and crash your entire operating system.

These are not just our guesses. Brandon Leblanc (Microsoft), senior program manager on the Windows Insider development team, confirmed that affected games will continue to freeze on the Windows operating system on Twitter:

In other words, your Windows 10 PC will install the latest software even if you have a vulnerable game installed and your PC will blue screen when you play the game. But that’s not Microsoft’s fault! Microsoft says third parties are responsible and you should fix them.

Microsoft is clearly stuck between a rock and a hard place. Anti-cheat programs have probably done stupid things with the Windows kernel, and stopping it probably makes Windows 10 better and safer. But Microsoft knows this change will break existing software, and none of those questions matter to a gamer who suddenly finds their operating system stops working after Windows 10 decides to automatically install an update.

As said Rafael Rivera in a Twitter discussion: “Users won’t know it’s the game’s fault. It used to be a big failure at Microsoft to break the system.”

RELATED: Everything new in the Windows 10 May 2019 Update