The Bug:
Since the release of Overwatch 2, several players have reported that the game crashes after 1-5 minutes which was also the case for myself.It makes no difference whether you are at the main menu or in-game, the game crashes without any freezes or error messages, and you are sent directly to the desktop as if you had clicked Alt + F4.
Here’s a thread about these crashes with over 8000 views and 200 comments, to which no mod or dev has answered yet, which is the most active thread in the “Technical Support” section:
[Main Thread] Overwatch 2 crashes after a couple of minutes
Potential Fixes didn’t work:
Changing the graphics settings has no effect on whether or not the crash occurs.Additionally, the following “bug fixes” did not prevent these crashes:
- Updated the Nvidia Experience driver
- Set energy settings to High Performance Mode
- Removed a rzchromasdk64.dll which seems to cause issues for other people
- Disabled Fullscreen Optimization for Overwatch.exe
- Disabled Firewall
- Closed and disabled all Antivirus programs
- Using “–tank_WorkerThreadCount 2 -thread 2” as Overwatch parameter
- Disabled Xbox Game Bar and Nvidia Experience Overlay
- Windows Hardware GPU Scheduling On/Off
- Windows Game Mode On/Off
- Disconnecting all Secondary Monitors
- Toggling off GSync/FreeSync - in all manner of combinations.
- Taking the Graphics Card out and putting another one back in (to rule out vendor-related driver issues)
- Setting the Graphics Card to Quiet Mode (basically, underclocking the GPU to make sure it isn’t overheating, though it never goes above 65C in OW2)
- FSR Off/On
- Different Nvidia Reflex Settings (Off, On, On + Boost)
- Uninstalling as much 3rd party software as possible: Nvidia Broadcast, SteelSeries GG, Logitech Capture, Razer related software
- Disconnecting as many USB Peripherals as possible (Webcam, Audio Interface, MIDI Controllers, USB Headset, etc.)
- Using a new Gaming Router
- Switching between Ethernet and WiFi
- Turning off XMP for the RAM
- Taking all of the RAM out and putting in a different set of DIMMs
What is causing the Crash:
I came upon the following post after doing some research:
[Main Thread] Overwatch 2 crashes after a couple of minutes - #180 by SoftPaws-21141 - Technical Support - Overwatch ForumsOverwatch 2 uses a new anti-reverse engineering protection known as “Byfron.”
But because that protection is so new, it seems to cause many “false positives” for some users.The crash happens because “Byfron” seems to flag you as “illegally” modifying the game and as a result crashes your game after 1-5 minutes. It also seems like Byfron bans your “SID” which is the main reason you can’t play anymore without crashing.
How to fix the Crash:
Numerous forum members have reported that the following workaround actually fixes the crash:
- [Main Thread] Overwatch 2 crashes after a couple of minutes - #131 by duxe-21793 - Technical Support - Overwatch Forums
- Overwatch 2 Fix Crashing After 1-3 Minutes - YouTube
These 2 “Fixes” above are merely a side effect of the “real fix” tho.
The “Real Fix”:
To really get around the crash you have to change your “SID” everytime you restart Overwatch, which is also why so many users can play again after creating a new windows user account, as that also changes your “SID” as a side effect.You can find the “SID” in your REGISTRY and searching for “EDID” Id which can be found at “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\DISPLAY”.
That ID can be changed with any SID or EDID changer found on the internet.
If you need a YouTube Tutorial take a look at this:
Change Security Identifier (sid) on Windows 10 | Change SID windows 10 Without Sysprep | Change SID - YouTubeThis actually worked for me and many other users that had the same Crash Bug as me.
Why does this work?
As already mentioned, Byfron falsely bans your “SID” and crashes your game.
With changing your “SID” you can get around that ban and play again.
TL;DR:
Byfron appears to falsely flag users, bans their SID, and crashes the game after 1-5 minutes. To fix the crash you have to change your SID in the registry which then allows you to get yourself “Byfron unbanned”.That is to say, OW Devs please fix your Byfron Anti Tamper protection, it has bugs and crashes the game for hundred if not thousand users by mistake.
