So Gears of War 4 has been borderline broken on PC for 8 months now. How is this acceptable?

Mullet2000 · Apr 23, 2018

So I ended up getting back into Gears of War 4 this weekend after not playing for about a year, as my significant other wanted to play horde mode with me. I have both an Xbox and a PC, so we set it up so one of us would play on one and one on the other together.

So we are playing horde, get to wave 15 or so, and the game on PC hard crashes. Xbox is still running fine. We decide to start over because once a player leaves they can't rejoin a game in progress.

We get to wave 20, crash again. Fun.

We start over a horde-lite session, complete it thankfully (25 waves), so I think the crashing is over with, but we start another match and I crash almost immediately.

This lead me to looking up if this is a wide spread issue, and apparently ever since an Nvidia driver update EIGHT months ago, it has been a widespread issue for all PC (edit: NVIDIA) users that the game, on average, crashes every 15-20 minutes mid-match. Some people crash right at start up, some people can play a little longer on average, but it seems to effect all users and there's complaints all over Reddit, Gears' Official Forums, etc. I haven't been able to find any PC players (I'll admit, a much smaller user base than Xbox players) saying that they have not been having this issue.

In what world is this acceptable? 8 months of this on a big first party MS game? The Coalition has acknowledged the issue and said "they are working on the issue" multiple times over the past few months but that's it, still nothing.

Seems like this flew under the radar because the PC Gears userbase isn't that big but, man, if I was a PC only user I'd be really bummed out by this.

It just got me thinking about how little recorse there is for users in a situation like this. The game is still being sold on PC with no warnings about this issue, and if they never fix it there's not really anything current users can do. Seems really scummy. And also a shame because the PC version runs so well otherwise.

Bjones · Apr 23, 2018

Hmm beat it on pc a month ago .. I don't play mp games but I'll try it out later.

Silky · Apr 23, 2018

I thought a fix was on the way for next month's update?

Mullet2000 · Apr 23, 2018

Bjones said:
Hmm beat it on pc a month ago .. I don't play mp games but I'll try it out later.

To clarify, this is apparently only with multiplayer and horde, yeah

Shroki · Apr 23, 2018

Is this just Horde, or is it co-op campaign as well?

Mullet2000 · Apr 23, 2018

Shroki said:
Is this just Horde, or is it co-op campaign as well?

Don't know about coop campaign, but versus multiplayer and horde is what I was referring to.

Silky said:
I thought a fix was on the way for next month's update?

Link? I'd sure like it if that was true.

Ge0force · Apr 23, 2018

It took them many months to fix Forza Horizon 3 as well, and people are still experiencing crashes. Microsofts PC efforts are a mess, you're better off playing their games on Xbox.

Potterson · Apr 23, 2018

That just shows you how many people care about WinStore games.

It's sad. Hell, I'm part of the "problem". I have a PC that could probably handle GoW4 but I got XOX recently. I hate using WinStore. I had to GOOGLE how to uninstall sh*t. Mobile appstore crap.

Deleted member 20799 · Apr 23, 2018

Mullet2000 said:
We decide to start over because once a player leaves they can't rejoin a game in progress.

They can - use the Xbox App on Win10 to handle party/join.

Starviper · Apr 23, 2018

This is simlar to the memory leak issue currently in FFXV.. The game has a known leak and will crash on average after 30minutes to an hour. I kinda doubt it ever getting fixed either, but it's a big, AAA studio game.

Gestault · Apr 23, 2018

Potterson said:
I have a PC that could probably handle GoW4 but I got XOX recently. I hate using WinStore. I had to GOOGLE how to uninstall sh*t. Mobile appstore crap.

I feel like I've got to ask. You didn't think to uninstall in the [Programs and Apps] section that's in exactly the same place as the old [Programs] section, or to right-click the icon and choose uninstall?

Mullet2000 · Apr 23, 2018

AlStrong said:
They can, just send an invite. Or use the Xbox App on Win10 to handle party/join.

Really? Very good to know.

Is the returning player going to get full exp/rewards though?

Madjoki · Apr 23, 2018

Shroki said:
Is this just Horde, or is it co-op campaign as well?

It even crashes/freezes during single-player. No reason to believe co-op would work.

Kalentan · Apr 23, 2018

I can't even play on PC anymore. I try to load up the game and it shows the Gears logo and then the app closes out. Been like that for awhile. Not sure if fault of the game or windows launcher app.

Haze · Apr 23, 2018

A gears of war game has game breaking technical issues months after launch? *pretends to be shocked*

Smash-It Stan · Apr 23, 2018

Took them a year to fix Horizon 3 so it would actually run on my gtx 970 compared to the flawless 2013 xbox one. Quantum break runs better on the steam version because of DX12 which isn't in the product listed on the Windows 10 store, also takes a mammoth amount of power compared to a regular xbox one or even a 1X. Outside of play anywhere titles, buying a game on the Winstore is asking for trouble. Gears 4 though was the golden child and always ran flawlessly for me, then again I havent played it since a few months after a launched so no shock its been run into the ground :/

bane833 · Apr 23, 2018

Does it really matter if something is broken when nobody uses it?

Kasey · Apr 23, 2018

Yeah I've read some complaints about this. It sucks because it will only drive away more PC players from the community and make them less likely to buy Gears 5.

Gustaf · Apr 23, 2018

you can totally rejoin a horde match in progress,

JahIthBer · Apr 23, 2018

UWP sucks, simple as that

Starviper said:
This is simlar to the memory leak issue currently in FFXV.. The game has a known leak and will crash on average after 30minutes to an hour. I kinda doubt it ever getting fixed either, but it's a big, AAA studio game.

Yeah that's another shame, but i believe Nvidia turfworks is the main cause of it, turning it off helps a ton, but you want that pretty grass so tough decisions.

2112 · Apr 23, 2018

How dare you insult the almighty UWP.

Potterson · Apr 23, 2018

Gestault said:
I feel like I've got to ask. You didn't think to uninstall in the [Programs and Apps] section that's in exactly the same place as the old [Programs] section, or to right-click the icon and choose uninstall?

Yup. Sea of Thieves beta wasn't there. After all I had to find SoT in the WindowsBar (no idea how it's called in English - this menu you get after clicking win icon in the corner :P) and uninstall from there.

RobbRivers · Apr 23, 2018

Halo wars 2 is even worse, i'm even unable to open it (ultimate edition). Splash appears and game does not open...

Sniatch · Apr 23, 2018

I played GoW 4, Recore, Halo Wars 2 and Sea of Thieves on PC and I never had any problems with the store. But I never tried the multiplayer of GoW 4, so I can't say anything about that. But I seem to be lucky so far, hope it stays that way.

Gestault · Apr 23, 2018

Potterson said:
Yup. Sea of Thieves beta wasn't there. After all I had to find SoT in the WindowsBar (no idea how it's called in English - this menu you get after clicking win icon in the corner :P) and uninstall from there.

Fair. I've gotten used to it, but it's still strange having the OS indexing fast enough that starting to type the name of something in the Windows menu is a valid way to find it. It goes against so much of how I learned GUIs growing up.

Deleted member 20799 · Apr 23, 2018

Mullet2000 said:
Really? Very good to know.

I do it at all the time with my buddies (who are on Xbox while I'm on PC). :) It's a bit janky having to alt-tab to do it, but it works. You should be able to click the profile of the person and a join game and join party button should appear after a moment. You'll be punted into the horde lobby to pick your character & cards while the session loads.

Actually, I think you don't even need to launch the game first. If you Join Game from the app, it'll launch Gears and head straight to the lobby as soon as possible, and then you'll be in the game as though you just died during the wave

Is the returning player going to get full exp/rewards though?

Not if using a 1-50 card, but the player otherwise just gains XP like normal.
For the 1-20, it just counts the number of waves you've completed IIRC, so you could still get that reward for using a 1-20 on Horde lite so long as you join before Wave 4 ends (i.e. before players spawn if they died on a previous wave).

Take5GiantSteps · Apr 23, 2018

Ge0force said:
It took them many months to fix Forza Horizon 3 as well, and people are still experiencing crashes. Microsofts PC efforts are a mess, you're better off playing their games on Xbox.

Many months is being generous. A year is more accurate. That experience turned me off from playing Xbox games on PC and honestly it turned me off from Forza Horizon in general, which sucks considering I bought an XB1 for FH2.

Goodacre0081 · Apr 23, 2018

I simply gave up on the Coalition ever fixing this due to incompetence. every time people ask about this on the Gears4 subreddit I urge them to avoid the game.

Theorry · Apr 23, 2018

Love how it by default turns again into a UWP hate thread.
OP it very much sucks. Wish i could help.

Duxxy3 · Apr 23, 2018

Play anywhere definitely has its ups and downs. Certainly more issues than the console version. I like it for campaigns, but going forward I don't know how much I'll use it (just picked up an X).

Vaizard · Apr 23, 2018

Played horde mode not so long ago with a friend of mine and we didn't have any issues, latest NVIDIA driver and no issues on both pc/pc and pc/xbox combination. Sucks to hear that this is a widespread issue, that we luckily didn't encounter any of the times we played together.

Don't see how it has anything to do with UWP however.

Acidote · Apr 23, 2018

I stopped playing it because there was no way of ending a horde run without one or two people leaving soon after starting it.

ShinobiOfTheWind · Apr 23, 2018

What is your GPU and what's your current driver?

Shroki said:
Is this just Horde, or is it co-op campaign as well?

It's for all modes, on specific mid/higher end Nvidia GPU's.

Mullet2000 said:
Really? Very good to know.

Is the returning player going to get full exp/rewards though?

I'm not into horde much, so I'll explain whatever I know.

If you leave a game or the game crashes at, for example, wave 25 (in a public matchmaking horde game) you won't get the XP and whatever 50 Wave bounty you've equipped (XP or Credits), simply because it's practically impossible to reboot the game and get past the logos > title screen > login to server > and join back session through invite or session in progress, all within the completion of the wave your game crashed previously.

But, if you're playing private horde, once your game crashes, you can just ask the host to pause the game and send you an invite. All you need to do is to get past the menus > server login check > join through invite > ask the host to unpause and you will now spectate for the remainder of Wave 25. The game will still not give you XP for this wave (the consecutive wave bonus and the 5% extra overall XP if the host has turned on ironman), BUT, you will get your 50 Wave bounty counted towards this entire horde as you technically have completed Wave 25. The consecutive bonus for Waves 40-50 will be awarded as well.

faint · Apr 23, 2018

I was a semi-professional GoW player for years. I can tell you that this is unfortunately par for the course with the series and one of the many reasons it doesn't have a major competitive scene. Back in 2009 GoW2 used to be on the MLG circuit and lasted all but a year. GoW1 faired a bit longer, but even GoW3 which was probably the most balanced of the bunch never made a return. There will tournaments hosted by the community, sure, but ultimately the games reach of state where, while imbalanced, you just "accept" their faults. I haven't played GoW4 in over a year and the primary reasons involved weapon balance and inconsistent hit detection.

Although the glitches / bugs you're reporting seem far more game breaking, I will say that I was not impressed with TC and their handling of GoW. As broken as GoW2 was (and still is to this day), at least Epic granted it 6 major title updates (TU) before they eventually settled. From memory, GoW3 had one major TU and I haven't followed 4 enough to know the details there.

Dictator · Apr 23, 2018

I tried to cover it in my most recent vieo, and I could not.
It just did not load up. Splash logo for 2 secs, then nothing back to desktop - i tried all the fixes I could find on the internet (2 hours of time spent on that instead of on the video).

It is not exactly a small game either, 130 GB.

The problem should not be as prevalent as it is. THere are thousands of posts about this on the web.

Theorry · Apr 23, 2018

faint said:
I was a semi-professional GoW player for years. I can tell you that this is unfortunately par for the course with the series and one of the many reasons it doesn't have a major competitive scene. Back in 2009 GoW2 used to be on the MLG circuit and lasted all but a year. GoW1 faired a bit longer, but even GoW3 which was probably the most balanced of the bunch never made a return. There will tournaments hosted by the community, sure, but ultimately the games reach of state where, while imbalanced, you just "accept" their faults. I haven't played GoW4 in over a year and the primary reasons involved weapon balance and inconsistent hit detection.

Although the glitches / bugs you're reporting seem far more game breaking, I will say that I was not impressed with TC and their handling of GoW. As broken as GoW2 was (and still is to this day), at least Epic granted it 6 major title updates (TU) before they eventually settled. From memory, GoW3 had one major TU and I haven't followed 4 enough to know the details there.

The support has been crazy for Gears 4. They are still going.

Mupod · Apr 23, 2018

I picked this game up last year, soon after they confirmed SLI support. But I literally couldn't finish the singleplayer. It goes to a black screen after a certain cutscene - I think it's in act 3 - and only audio plays. Then it crashes. I tried reinstalling, new drivers, everything. Eventually just gave up.

Funny thing is even before that, that the game had a horrible memory leak and if I didn't restart it every once in a while campaign gradually became unplayable. Horde was fine and that's what I bought it for, though. Now you're saying that's busted too, lol

Duxxy3 · Apr 23, 2018

Dictator said:
I tried to cover it in my most recent vieo, and I could not.
It just did not load up. Splash logo for 2 secs, then nothing back to desktop - i tried all the fixes I could find on the internet (2 hours of time spent on that instead of on the video).

It is not exactly a small game either, 130 GB.

The problem should not be as prevalent as it is. THere are thousands of posts about this on the web.

Are you logged into a local account or microsoft account?

SK4TE · Apr 23, 2018

They should drop PC games, just put all effort back into the Xbox.

Mullet2000 · Apr 23, 2018

ShinobiOfTheWind said:
What is your GPU and what's your current driver?

It's for all modes, on specific mid/higher end Nvidia GPU's.

I'm not into horde much, so I'll explain whatever I know.

If you leave a game or the game crashes at, for example, wave 25 (in a public matchmaking horde game) you won't get the XP and whatever 50 Wave bounty you've equipped (XP or Credits), simply because it's practically impossible to reboot the game and get past the logos > title screen > login to server > and join back session through invite or session in progress, all within the completion of the wave your game crashed previously.

But, if you're playing private horde, once your game crashes, you can just ask the host to pause the game and send you an invite. All you need to do is to get past the menus > server login check > join through invite > ask the host to unpause and you will now spectate for the remainder of Wave 25. The game will still not give you XP for this wave (the consecutive wave bonus and the 5% extra overall XP if the host has turned on ironman), BUT, you will get your 50 Wave bounty counted towards this entire horde as you technically have completed Wave 25. The consecutive bonus for Waves 40-50 will be awarded as well.

Thanks for the tips.

I'm on a 980ti, latest drivers.

faint · Apr 23, 2018

Theorry said:
The support has been crazy for Gears 4. They are still going.

That's welcome news. They took over GoW3 at an odd time so I can't really blame them there. I guess I just wished they really focused on the hit detection in GoW UE. It wasn't GoW2 bad, but it was somewhat inconsistent which was unfortunate to me given that it was a very faithful remake to one of my favorite games of all time.

Soony Xbone Uhh · Apr 23, 2018

Last time i played horde on PC was over a year ago. Can't say if i would run into the same issue. Maybe I'll try.

But you should use a less hyperbole topic title, OP...

Onebadlion · Apr 23, 2018

I've had a bunch of hassle with this game too. When I first bought it, it took a lot of playing around to get it running above 20fps on my at 1080p on my 1080. Once I got it working it was fine.

I decided to go back to it a few weeks ago and couldn't get past the splash screen before it crashed. Tried multiple times, same result. Figured I'd check the forums and it turns out the official advice is to reinstall the game. All 120gb of it. Not impressed.

Carlius · Apr 23, 2018

i was thinking of going back to it, 80gb is putting me off though. is the game still active? how is that crossplay? if its still active then ill reinstall.

Deleted member 12447 · Apr 23, 2018

Mullet2000 said:
So I ended up getting back into Gears of War 4 this weekend after not playing for about a year, as my significant other wanted to play horde mode with me. I have both an Xbox and a PC, so we set it up so one of us would play on one and one on the other together.

So we are playing horde, get to wave 15 or so, and the game on PC hard crashes. Xbox is still running fine. We decide to start over because once a player leaves they can't rejoin a game in progress.

We get to wave 20, crash again. Fun.

We start over a horde-lite session, complete it thankfully (25 waves), so I think the crashing is over with, but we start another match and I crash almost immediately.

This lead me to looking up if this is a wide spread issue, and apparently ever since an Nvidia driver update EIGHT months ago, it has been a widespread issue for all PC users that the game, on average, crashes every 15-20 minutes mid-match. Some people crash right at start up, some people can play a little longer on average, but it seems to effect all users and there's complaints all over Reddit, Gears' Official Forums, etc. I haven't been able to find any PC players (I'll admit, a much smaller user base than Xbox players) saying that they have not been having this issue.

In what world is this acceptable? 8 months of this on a big first party MS game? The Coalition has acknowledged the issue and said "they are working on the issue" multiple times over the past few months but that's it, still nothing.

Seems like this flew under the radar because the PC Gears userbase isn't that big but, man, if I was a PC only user I'd be really bummed out by this.

It just got me thinking about how little recorse there is for users in a situation like this. The game is still being sold on PC with no warnings about this issue, and if they never fix it there's not really anything current users can do. Seems really scummy. And also a shame because the PC version runs so we'll otherwise.

Sorry for your trouble. This legit helped me realize the issue I'm having is with Gears and not my PC. I've had a few pc hard crashes and I never realized the correlation was this until you posted this.

Goodacre0081 · Apr 23, 2018

ok this is worth stating. we have two different issues being discussed here

the Nvidia crashing issue during gameplay is the one the OP is talking about and has existed for 8 months. it's caused by any firmware beyond 384.76

the second is an issue is related to the account system in UWP games and will close the game at the splash screen.

hexanaut · Apr 23, 2018

faint said:
That's welcome news. They took over GoW3 at an odd time so I can't really blame them there. I guess I just wished they really focused on the hit detection in GoW UE. It wasn't GoW2 bad, but it was somewhat inconsistent which was unfortunate to me given that it was a very faithful remake to one of my favorite games of all time.

The hit detection will always be trash until they upgrade to at least 60Hz servers.

Number9 · Apr 23, 2018

I'm getting Forza Horizon 3 flashbacks. What a mess that was (and probably still is) as well.

Dictator · Apr 23, 2018

Duxxy3 said:
Are you logged into a local account or microsoft account?

this is a hard question to answer - as I tried to solve it that way as well and came back utterly confused. I have a local account, but when I click on account, it instead shows my microsoft account?!
I then added the ms account to the PC as a family member, logged it - and gears 4 (none of my installed winstore apps are from that account like that) is not launchable from that account in the sparate user instance.

My entire user info stuff in the settings area of what is now the "new control panel" (not the old one, which is also there of course) does not have the "Sign in with Microsoft Account" bit of clickable text. I cannot find it for the life of me.

To say it simply, I am *currently* on a local account - but my ms account also shows up under that field in account settings area. It is bizzaro.

faint · Apr 23, 2018

hexanaut said:
The hit detection will always be trash until they upgrade to at least 60Hz servers.

I thought they had dedicated 60Hz servers beginning with 4. Is this no longer the case or am I just remembering something that never existed? I know GoW3 had 30Hz dedis for a while but they cut them fairly quickly.

So Gears of War 4 has been borderline broken on PC for 8 months now. How is this acceptable?

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