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Assassin's Creed Shadows crashes to desktop after the NVIDIA 616.56 driver

Last verified September 2026Tested against GeForce Game Ready Driver 616.56 (released 26 August 2026), GeForce Game Ready Driver 616.64 (released 3 September 2026), GeForce Game Ready Driver 616.92 (released 9 September 2026) — still affected, GeForce Game Ready Driver 617.14 (released 22 September 2026) — still affected, Assassin's Creed Shadows on WindowsGood evidence

This is a driver regression NVIDIA has acknowledged and has not yet fixed. Its release notes for Game Ready 617.14, published 22 September 2026, still list "Assassin's Creed Shadows may crash to desktop after extended gameplay after updating to driver 616.56" as an open issue — in fact it is the only entry left in that list, three driver releases on. Updating will not help you here. Rolling the display driver back to the version you ran before 616.56 is still the move that addresses the cause. Ignore the much-copied advice to downgrade to 566.36 — that targets an unrelated 2025 driver bug.

Start here

  1. Confirm you are on an affected driver and that the crash pattern matches

NVIDIA shipped 616.56 on 26 August 2026 and did not mention Assassin's Creed Shadows in that driver's known issues. The crash was first documented two weeks later, in the release notes for 616.92 on 9 September 2026, where NVIDIA attributes it to updating to 616.56 and files it under open issues rather than fixed ones. It is still there in 617.14 of 22 September — and by then it is the sole remaining open issue, the other 616.56 regressions having been cleared one by one. That is the useful signal: NVIDIA is working through this driver's fallout and this crash is the one still outstanding.

Symptoms

  • Assassin's Creed Shadows closes straight to the desktop, usually with no error dialog
  • The crash shows up after a long session rather than at launch or in the first few minutes
  • The game was stable on the same hardware and settings before you updated the NVIDIA driver
  • You are on GeForce driver 616.56, 616.64 or 616.92

Why this happens

A regression introduced in GeForce driver 616.56

NVIDIA's release notes for 616.92 list the crash under "Open Issues in Version 616.92 WHQL" as "Assassin's Creed Shadows may crash to desktop after extended gameplay after updating to driver 616.56 [6685219]". The wording ties the behaviour to updating to 616.56, and the bug number means NVIDIA has it on file. It is not listed in the open issues for 616.56 or 616.64, which is why the problem went undocumented for two weeks rather than being absent from those drivers. NVIDIA's own preamble to that list is worth reading honestly: it says some problems listed "may not have been thoroughly investigated and, in fact, may not be NVIDIA issues", so treat this as an acknowledged, version-bound regression rather than a fully root-caused one. As of the 617.14 release notes of 22 September 2026 the entry is unchanged and is the only item left under Open Issues, so three releases have passed without a fix.

Roll the display driver back in Device Manager · Install a pre-616.56 driver by hand if rollback is unavailable

Fixes

Confirm you are on an affected driver and that the crash pattern matches

about 3 min

The documented bug is specific to drivers from 616.56 onward and to crashes after extended play, so this check tells you whether the rest of this page applies to you.

Applies to: GeForce Game Ready 616.56 through 617.14

  1. Open the NVIDIA App (or the NVIDIA Control Panel and choose Help then System Information) and read the driver version.
  2. If it reads 616.56, 616.64, 616.92 or 617.14, you are on a driver NVIDIA's notes associate with this crash. 617.14 included, despite being the newest release — NVIDIA still lists the crash as open there, and it is the only open issue that driver carries.
  3. Check the shape of the crash. NVIDIA documents a crash to desktop after extended gameplay. A crash in the first minutes, a hang on the loading screen, or a crash that also happened before you updated is a different problem.
  4. Note the driver version you were on previously if you remember it; you will want it for the next step.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: NVIDIA, NVIDIA, NVIDIA, NVIDIA

Roll the display driver back in Device Manager

Check before applyingabout 10 min

NVIDIA ties the crash to updating to 616.56, so returning to the driver that was installed before it removes the cause. Device Manager's rollback reuses the copy Windows already kept, so there is nothing to download.

Applies to: Windows 11, Windows 10

Before you do this

Rolling back leaves you on an older driver, so you lose the Game Ready optimisations and every fix since — the three display fixes in 616.92, and in 617.14 the DisplayPort wake-from-sleep fix, the Samsung Odyssey G95NC HDMI fix and the Judgment launch fix. That is a real cost, and it is worth weighing against how often this crash actually interrupts you. If Roll Back Driver is greyed out, Windows has no previous driver stored and you need the manual install below instead.

  1. Right-click Start and choose Device Manager.
  2. Expand Display adapters, right-click your NVIDIA GPU and choose Properties.
  3. Open the Driver tab and select Roll Back Driver.
  4. Pick a reason when prompted, confirm, and restart if Windows asks you to.
  5. Play a long session to test. If the crash is gone, stay on this driver until NVIDIA moves bug 6685219 out of its open-issues list — it was still there in 617.14 on 22 September 2026.

Source: NVIDIA, Microsoft, NVIDIA

Install a pre-616.56 driver by hand if rollback is unavailable

Check before applyingabout 20 min

When Windows has not kept the previous driver, the same result is reached by downloading an earlier release yourself and pointing Device Manager at it.

Applies to: Windows 11, Windows 10

Before you do this

Windows will not install an older driver over a newer one through the automatic path, and a manual display-driver swap blanks the screen briefly while it completes. Do it from the desktop rather than mid-game, and keep the installer for your current driver so you can return to it once NVIDIA fixes this.

  1. Download an earlier GeForce release — one published before 616.56 — from NVIDIA's own driver downloads. Microsoft's guidance is explicit that you should not take drivers from any site other than the manufacturer's official one.
  2. Right-click Start and choose Device Manager, then expand Display adapters.
  3. Right-click your NVIDIA GPU and choose Update driver, then "Browse my computer for drivers".
  4. Point Windows at the folder you extracted the older driver into and continue.
  5. Restart, then test with a long session.

Source: NVIDIA, Microsoft

Known issues

  • NVIDIA lists "Assassin's Creed Shadows may crash to desktop after extended gameplay after updating to driver 616.56 [6685219]" under Open Issues, first in the release notes for Game Ready 616.92 of 9 September 2026 and still in those for 617.14 of 22 September 2026 — where it is the only entry in the list. It appears in neither the 616.56 nor the 616.64 open-issues lists. No NVIDIA-published workaround accompanies the entry.

    Affects 616.56, 616.64, 616.92, 617.14 · Status: open

  • The newer drivers are still worth having for other reasons: 616.92 fixed browser flicker [6673430], virtual displays [6674464] and Remote Desktop black screens [6687328]; 617.14 added fixes for DisplayPort monitors not waking from sleep [6757568], the Samsung Odyssey G95NC over HDMI [6771206] and the Judgment launch failure [6681537]. None addresses this crash. 616.64, between them, fixed nothing at all.

    Affects 616.64, 616.92, 617.14 · Status: fixed

  • The companion game regression from the same driver has since been fixed: "Judgement/Lost Judgement/ Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. may fail to launch after updating to driver 616.56 [6681537]" moved to Fixed Gaming Bugs in 617.14. If you play those titles, update rather than roll back — the two bugs now need opposite responses.

    Affects 616.56, 616.64, 616.92 · Status: fixed

If none of this worked

If the game also crashed before you updated the driver, or it crashes within the first few minutes rather than after extended play, this is not the regression NVIDIA documented and rolling back will not help. Be careful with older advice you will find for this game: a much-linked thread from 21 March 2025 blames NVIDIA's 572-series drivers with frame generation and G-SYNC and tells readers to downgrade to 566.36, disable G-SYNC, or cap the refresh rate at 120 Hz. That is a different driver generation roughly eighteen months back, the thread's own author later edited the post to say the crash returned anyway, and another participant there reported no trouble on the same drivers. Following it today would cost you a year and a half of driver fixes without touching the bug NVIDIA has now acknowledged.

Common questions

Does updating to the newest driver fix this?
No. NVIDIA's release notes for 617.14, the 22 September 2026 release, still list the Assassin's Creed Shadows crash under Open Issues — it is the only entry there. 616.92 before it did the same. Those drivers do fix other problems 616.56 introduced, which is why coverage describes them as cleanup releases, but this crash is not among them.
Is this Ubisoft's bug or NVIDIA's?
NVIDIA documents it in its driver release notes and ties it to updating to driver 616.56, which points at the driver. NVIDIA also prefaces that list by saying some entries may not have been thoroughly investigated and may not be NVIDIA issues, so the honest answer is that NVIDIA has acknowledged and is tracking it under bug 6685219 without having published a root cause.
Which driver should I roll back to?
Whichever release you were running before 616.56 — NVIDIA's wording attributes the crash to updating to 616.56, so any earlier release is outside the affected range. Device Manager's Roll Back Driver will return you to exactly the version Windows replaced, which is the simplest correct answer.
Is it safe to stay on the current driver and just live with it?
That is a reasonable trade if your sessions are short enough that you rarely hit the crash, and it has got more reasonable as the newer drivers accumulated real fixes. The crash itself is the game closing, not damage to your system. Save often, and watch NVIDIA's release notes for bug 6685219 to move out of the open-issues list — it was still there on 22 September 2026.

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Related problems

Sources

  • Release Notes: NVIDIA Release 615 Driver for Windows, Version 617.14 (RN-08399-617.14_v01)Official

    NVIDIA · Release notes · checked Sep 23, 2026

    • The only entry under Open Issues in Version 617.14 WHQL is "Assassin's Creed Shadows may crash to desktop after extended gameplay after updating to driver 616.56 [6685219]"
    • The 617.14 release notes are dated September 22, 2026 and list changes since driver version 616.92
    • 617.14 fixes bug 6681537 (Judgement/Lost Judgement/Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. failing to launch), 6757568 (monitors not waking from sleep on DisplayPort) and 6771206 (no picture on Samsung Odyssey G95NC over HDMI)
  • Release 615 Driver for Windows, Version 616.92 — Release Notes (RN-08399-616.92_v01)Official

    NVIDIA · Release notes · checked Sep 23, 2026

    • NVIDIA lists "Assassin's Creed Shadows may crash to desktop after extended gameplay after updating to driver 616.56 [6685219]" under Open Issues in Version 616.92 WHQL, meaning it is acknowledged and not fixed in 616.92.
    • Driver 616.92 fixes three other regressions introduced by 616.56: intermittent browser flicker [6673430], virtual displays not being created [6674464], and Remote Desktop Protocol sessions showing a black screen [6687328].
    • NVIDIA also lists "Judgement/Lost Judgement/ Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. may fail to launch after updating to driver 616.56 [6681537]" as an open issue in 616.92.
    • NVIDIA's Open Issues preamble states that some problems listed "may not have been thoroughly investigated and, in fact, may not be NVIDIA issues".
  • Release 615 Driver for Windows, Version 616.56 — Release Notes (RN-08399-616.56_v01)Official

    NVIDIA · Release notes · checked Sep 23, 2026

    • The Open Issues list for driver 616.56 names only "Prefer Maximum Performance" Power Management Mode may not be applied correctly [6007998]; it does not mention Assassin's Creed Shadows, so NVIDIA did not document this crash when 616.56 shipped.
  • Release 615 Driver for Windows, Version 616.64 — Release Notes (RN-08399-616.64_v01)Official

    NVIDIA · Release notes · checked Sep 23, 2026

    • Driver 616.64 lists "N/A" under both Fixed Gaming Bugs and Fixed General Bugs, so it corrected nothing that 616.56 introduced.
    • The Open Issues list for 616.64 names the Prefer Maximum Performance bug [6007998] and intermittent browser flicker [6673430], and does not mention Assassin's Creed Shadows.
  • Update drivers through Device Manager in WindowsOfficial

    Microsoft · Support page · checked Sep 23, 2026

    • Device Manager's Driver tab provides a Roll Back Driver button that reinstalls the previously installed driver, and Microsoft notes that when a problem appeared after an update, reinstalling the previous driver often resolves it.
    • A specific driver version can be installed by downloading it from the manufacturer's website first, then using Update driver followed by "Browse my computer for drivers" and pointing Windows at that folder.
    • Microsoft advises avoiding driver downloads from any website other than the manufacturer's official site.
  • Game and PC crash fix :: Assassin's Creed Shadows General DiscussionsCommunity report

    Steam Community · Forum · checked Sep 23, 2026

    • A widely linked Assassin's Creed Shadows crash thread dated 21 March 2025 recommends downgrading to NVIDIA driver 566.36, disabling G-SYNC, or capping the monitor refresh rate at 120 Hz — advice aimed at the 572-series drivers of that period, not the 616 series.
    • The author of that thread later edited the opening post to say the game still crashed with their fix and that it only lasted longer, and another participant reported the latest drivers of that time worked fine with frame generation and G-SYNC.
AC Shadows crash to desktop: an NVIDIA 616.56 bug | TroubleGrid