Here are the games that are incompatible with Alder Lake – Don’t worry, there is a workaround

Some games won’t work with Intel’s Alder Lake series CPUs, but there is a fix (kinda)

As impressive as Intel’s Alder Lake CPUs are, they aren’t without their issues. Intel’s move to Hybrid x86 has its drawbacks, and while Windows 11 and Intel’s Thread Director can enable high levels of efficiency with Intel’s combination P-cores and E-Cores, not all software reacts well to multi-architecture CPU designs. 

Intel has released a list of known software that has compatibility problems with their Alder Lake series of processors, all of which are impacted by their Digital Rights Management (DRM) solutions. These issues prevent Intel’s Alder Lake processors from being detected correctly, resulting in compatibility issues. This means that many games currently don’t run with Intel’s 12th generation Alder Lake CPUs, at least without workarounds. 

Patches are coming

Intel is working with game developers, DRM providers, and Microsoft to remedy these early Alder Lake compatibility issues. Currently, a Windows 11 patch is set to address Alder Lake’s compatibility problems with several high profile PC titles. This patch is due to be launched in mid-November, but until then a workaround is available to enable Alder Lake compatibility in impacted games. 

Developers have also been contacted by Intel to help resolve these compatibility issues. While Alder Lake’s gaming performance is impressive, its game compatibility isn’t. With some PC titles, Alder Lake CPUs do not “just work”, making Alder Lake CPU upgrades a difficult prospect for some PC gamers. 
  

  
Affected Games

On their website, Intel has created a list of games that are known to be incompatible with their Alder Lake series processors. We have included their list of games below, but note that Intel’s official list of incompatible games will be updated over time as games are patched to enable Alder Lake support and/or Windows is updated to work around these compatibility problems.

The games in bold below are expected to receive Alder Lake support later this month as part of a planned Windows 11 update.  

Windows 11

– Anthem*
– Bravely Default 2*
– Fishing Sim World*
– Football Manager 2019*
– Football Manager Touch 2019*
– Football Manager 2020*
– Football Manager Touch 2020*
– Legend of Mana*
– Mortal Kombat 11*
– Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1 and 2*
– Warhammer I*
– Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla*
– Far Cry Primal*
– Fernbus Simulator*
– For Honor*
– Lost in Random*
– Madden 22*
– Maneater*
– Need for Speed – Hot Pursuit Remastered*
– Sea of Solitude*
– Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order*
– Tourist Bus Simulator*
– Maneater*

Windows 10

– Ace Combat 7*
– Assassins Creed Odyssey*
– Assassins Creed Origins*
– Code Vein*
– eFootball 2021*
– F1 2019*
– Far Cry New Dawn*
– FIFA 19*
– FIFA 20*
– Football Manager 2021*
– Football Manager Touch 2021*
– Ghost Recon Breakpoint*
– Ghost Recon Wildlands*
– Immortals Fenyx Rising*
– Just Cause 4*
– Life is Strange 2*
– Madden 21*
– Monopoly Plus*
– Need For Speed Heat*
– Scott Pilgrim vs The World*
– Shadow of the Tomb Raider*
– Shinobi Striker*
– Soulcalibur VI*
– Starlink*
– Team Sonic Racing*
– Total War Saga – Three Kingdoms*
– Train Sim World*
– Train Sim World 2*
– Wolfenstein Youngblood*

  
Workaround – The “Scroll Lock Workaround”

On Intel’s website, the company has detailed a “temporary workaround” that will make 12th generation Alder Lake based PCs compatible with more games. This workaround requires a specific setting to be enabled within your system’s BIOS and for users to hit their keyboard’s skift key before playing incompatible games. 

This workaround sets Intel’s E-Cores on standby when your keyboard’s scroll lock key is on, allowing incompatible games to not detect Alder Lake’s hybrid x86 architecture or get confused by the existence of two separate core types within Alder Lake systems. 

More details about this workaround are available here. 

You can join the discussion on Alder Lake’s compatibility issues with some PC games on the OC3D Forums.