Constantly crashing after Season 18 update

Bug Report
1

Ever since the live update on the servers (right after the launch yesterday), the game crashes within minutes. I haven’t successfully played a single game, which is incredibly frustrating since I’ve bought the ultimate battle pass. I have updated my bios, used DDU and reinstalled my drivers (which were up to date) from scratch. I’ve tried all the other recommended things (scan and repair, uninstall and reinstall, etc) but nothing works.

It worked fine before the update.

I’m using an intel 14900, AMD RX 7900 XT, ASUS Tuf gaming Z790 Wifi Plus Motherboard with the latest BIOS, Audeze Maxwell headphones (not sure if that matters but, for completeness).

All my other games are working without any issues.

8 Likes
2

Same issue here - haven’t made it through a single game of comp or quickplay stadium. Reinstalled graphics drivers, reinstalled overwatch. System was running fine during competitive drives at the end of Season 17 last week.

|Processor|Intel(R) Core™ i7-14700K (3.40 GHz)|
|Installed RAM|32.0 GB (31.8 GB usable)|
RTX 3080
MSI MAG Z790 TOMAHAWK WIFI (MS-7D91)

5 Likes
3

same here was working fine since nerf collab have u found any fix yet?

2 Likes
4

Here’s my exchange with Blizzard Technical Support:

Ludovic
Hello,

Since the August 26, 2025 update, Overwatch 2 has been systematically crashing mid-game with an EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION error. The game was working perfectly before this update. No hardware or software changes have been made on my end since then.

Configuration:

CPU: Intel Core i7-14700KF (20 cores / 28 threads, microcode 0x12F)

Motherboard: MSI PRO Z790-P WIFI (BIOS A.H0 dated June 4, 2025)

GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4080 SUPER

RAM: 32 GB DDR5 Corsair @ 4800 MHz

OS: Windows 11 Home

Graphics API: DirectX 11

GPU Drivers: 32.0.15.8097 (dated August 8, 2025)

Audio Drivers: Realtek + NVIDIA + Voicemod (all up-to-date)

Symptoms:

Crashes mid-game, often after a few minutes

Error Message: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION reading from 0xffffffffffffffff

Thread 9676 fails in a loop with The same stack trace

Overwatch.exe consumes up to 23 GB of private memory

NVIDIA modules (nvwgf2umx.dll, nvldumdx.dll) and VivoxSDK are unloaded/reloaded in a loop

Identical stack trace for each crash:

Code
DBG-ADDR<00007FF73F1083DA>()
DBG-ADDR<00007FF73F107865>()
DBG-ADDR<00007FF73EFAEC96>()
DBG-ADDR<00007FF73EC1E612>()
DBG-ADDR<00007FF73EC1FD8D>()
DBG-ADDR<00007FF73EC74AA4>()
DBG-ADDR<00007FF73EB59032>()
Context :

Crash only since the August 26th patch

No issues for over a month after BIOS update

The bug is rated “Priority 4 - Low” but has a “Critical Impact” in the internal report
16 hours ago
This request has been answered.
16 hours ago
Support
Hello,

We’re sorry to hear you’re experiencing technical difficulties.

Based on the information you’ve provided, this issue should be resolved by following a few specific troubleshooting steps. We recommend starting with the troubleshooting guide available on our support site: Overwatch 2 Technical Troubleshooting

This guide covers common issues and offers solutions that should resolve the problem you’re experiencing.

If the above troubleshooting steps don’t resolve the issue, you can seek help from the Blizzard gaming community on the technical support forums (if available) or other gaming community sites. Computer or local network technicians may also be able to assist you if you have exhausted all other resources.

Thank you for your patience, and we hope to see you back in the game very soon.

Sincerely,
Customer Support
15 hours ago
ludovic
I’ve done absolutely everything possible: uninstalling/reinstalling/repairing the game. I’ve spent almost 8 hours checking my BIOS, processor, updating my graphics card, drivers, etc. Everything is clean. I’ve tried launching several games that use different graphics engines, such as Fallout 4, Rimworld, Silent Hill 2 Remake, etc. I haven’t encountered any issues or crashes, even during very long sessions and with multiple games running at the same time. I play Overwatch a lot, about 5 nights a week, sometimes lasting up to 4/5 hours non-stop, if not more, and I have no problems. I played again very early Monday morning for several hours. Tuesday you did the update, I couldn’t play Tuesday due to lack of time, last night at midnight I launched the game and it crashed every time I started a game, even though I had absolutely nothing changed on my PC or installed anything between Monday morning and last night (Wednesday evening 08/27).

3 Likes
5

Honestly it seems like they’re still in denial about this. I have already gotten penalized for trying to play the game when it keeps crashing so I am watching to see if they make any changes or post any updates before I try playing again. I am able to play via GEforce NOW streaming but that has sufficient input lag that it’s not been a pleasant experience.

2 Likes
6

The solution I used before the 0X12F microcode update was to put my computer (I have a tower, not a laptop, I should point out because it surprised more than one person) into power-saving mode. Since then, I haven’t had any problems with any game in normal use mode. Only for Overwatch since their superb update on Tuesday, August 26, have I been forced to put it in power-saving mode.

I was still shocked by Blizzard’s response: “You can ask the Blizzard player community for help on the technical support forums (if available) or on other gaming community sites. IT or local network technicians may also be able to help you if you’ve exhausted all other resources.” I find it shameful that the technical support of the game in question tells us to look elsewhere for help.

2 Likes
7

Fascinating! I will try this.

Edited to add: Thank you!!! This seems to be working, at least for now!!!

Edit #2: This is a less intrusive solution that also worked for me:

8

Power saving mode downclocks all hardware, which helps save power. Essentially, it tells you that the hardware is unstable at full clock speeds. If you have a 14th gen Intel, it’s a very common occurrence to run into this.

Blizzard used to offer tech support as a courtesy service, but they ended that in early 2024. All the tech support agents were either reassigned or moved on. When you open a ticket, it’s with customer support, which handles account issues (like changing your address, or recovering an account). All CS can do is link to tech support documentation. The process you encountered is standard procedure these days across the gaming industry. I don’t think there are any gaming companies who still troubleshoot connection or hardware issues in a one-on-one setting anymore.

2 Likes
9

I feel like if every other game can run on 13th/14th gen CPUs, it’s a blizzard problem not an Intel one.

1 Like
10

This problem started in S18. I don’t know if it fits exactly the OP’s case, but so far, I’ve played maybe 12 stadium matches and in 2 of those matches my game just froze randomly and became unresponsive. This never happened before.

1 Like
11

I think that during the deployment of the Season 18 update, they must have touched an issue with the graphics engine that can no longer handle hybrid CPUs properly. Overwatch must not differentiate (or at least, it must have struggled) between P and E cores. The problem was common, especially with UE4/5 engines, Macenko Engine and Overwatch’s proprietary engine, but as noted, there is no longer an issue with this engine on UE since the release of microcode 0X12F, and the same is true for Overwatch Season 17 (which was in development when the non-beta 0x12F version arrived).

What I recommend while waiting for Blizzard to do something (and no, I’m sorry, it’s not up to us to tinker with our bios when everything was working perfectly the previous season and all the other games work perfectly even when ultra modded.) Play Overwatch in power saving mode for Overwatch and return to normal mode for the other games.

12

Originally the problem came from Intel, they tried to solve the problem for the first time with the microcode 0x12b in September 2024 then the 0x12C at the end of March 2025 but it did not work. In May 2025 they released the beta version of the microcode 0x12F and final version of the microcode 0x12F a few days later and everything was corrected and resolved at that time.

1 Like
13

Unfortunately, the power-saving trick doesn’t seem to work for my laptop, appreciate the suggestion though

1 Like
14

A better workaround is to just use the Intel XTU tool (runs in Windows, you dont have to go into BIOS) to set the P-cores to 54x (instead of 57x/58x). This doesnt noticeably slow down everything (unlike power saving mode) and is a quick change to set back to 57x if you want to really get the most out your CPU (which I never do, at least with that 5% reduction, when gaming since my GPU ends up being the bottleneck, not CPU). As a result, although Power Saving mode did help (thank you!), I prefer the XTU workaround for myself.

15

same here with NVIDIA 4090 and intel processor

16

As of today I cant play either! I thought I fixed the issue by updating my BIOS which seemed to work at the time, however. I’m now forced into playing Overwatch in power saving mode because the game instantly crashes when I’m on my normal power mode with a 14th gen CPU, Never happens with any other game. I’ve been removed from multiple comp games and my endorsement is down the toilet. I don’t know what they’ve done this season but going through the discussion thread its clearly ruined everyone with a 14th gen CPU’s Overwatch experience. And knowing Blizzard, this is something that’s going to be completely ignored until a few seasons later. Cheers Blizz

17

No gaming company would be responsible for a CPU becoming unstable at high performance speeds. That blame belongs to the CPU manufacturer, and they already took responsibility for it.

18

Same here looks to be an issue with vivox

19

same problem here, any fixes for this? I’ve tried updating BIOS rolling back drivers, scanning and repairing the game etc.

20

Here is a fix: Power options → Chose any of the plan (Balanced or Power saver) → Change plan settings → Change advanced power settings → Processor power management → Max processor state → Set to 80%.

People pointing fingers on whos fault it is Blizzards or Intel’s, short answer is both.