- The June update for Windows 11 24H2 was paused by Microsoft
- A revised update took its place for PCs that were impacted by a compatibility issue
- Microsoft has now explained the nature of the bug, which pertained to certain PC games using anti-cheat protection
Microsoft just fixed an issue with the latest Windows 11 update and has now clarified exactly what the problem was, and the apparent extent of the bug.
The June update for Windows 11 24H2 was deployed yesterday (June 11), but it came with a ‘compatibility issue’ that meant Microsoft paused the rollout for certain PCs. However, the company didn’t tell us what this mystery compatibility problem was.
That patch (KB5060842) was replaced by a new one (KB5063060) which has now rolled out to affected devices, and Microsoft has explained what the bug was, as Windows Latest reports. It was a problem with an anti-cheat tool which meant that the PC games which used this system were crashing.
Microsoft said: “This update addresses an incompatibility issue where Windows might restart unexpectedly when opening games that use the Easy Anti-Cheat service. Easy Anti-Cheat automatically installs with certain games to enhance security and prevent cheating in multiplayer online PC games.
“Windows users likely didn’t experience this issue because the [initial] update that led to the incompatibility issue (KB506842) was not offered to devices with Easy Anti-Cheat installed.”
Analysis: cutting through the confusion
This whole affair has been causing some bewilderment. Some people have been left scratching their heads and wondering whether, if their PC got the first June patch, does it need the second (replacement) one? And others were left confused about why they weren’t getting any patch at all.
To try and clear things up, if you didn’t get any patch, that’s because your PC has a game installed that uses Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC). Microsoft blocked the patch for those Windows 11 devices to avoid the compatibility bug which crashed those games. At this point in time, though, you should have received the second (tweaked) update (KB5063060).
If your Windows 11 PC received the first update (KB5060842) and you don’t have games with EAC, you probably won’t be given the second patch. After all, you don’t need it as such. However, if you received the first update and you have got PC games with EAC on-board – and this happened to some folks before Microsoft paused the initial patch, even though the company insists it wasn’t “likely” – then you will get the second update which will effectively overwrite the first one.
You can see where the confusion comes in, as it’s a bit of a sticky situation. The long and short of it is that if you have one of these patches, you’re good for all the security fixes and feature improvements the June update brings. They’re both identical updates; it’s just that the second one packs the mitigation for the EAC bug on top.
So, as long as you have one of these patches installed, that’s all good. If you’re still seeing crashing in games that use EAC, keep checking Windows Update for that second patch to override the first (assuming you haven’t already got it).
A further oddity here is that Microsoft said the compatibility issue applied to a ‘limited set’ of Windows 11 devices. But EAC is in some huge games, such as Apex Legends, Fortnite and a bunch of other Epic games. That explains why quite a few folks were reporting that they didn’t receive the initial June patch for Windows 11, which seemed strange given that Microsoft indicating that this was a niche issue.
It may have been a limited problem in terms of the number of PCs actually experiencing crashing, but the number prevented from receiving the June update was substantial, and Microsoft didn’t make that distinction.
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