PC Game Pass Games only work in the background, not in the foreground

Kornél Sevinger · Dec 29, 2023

When I open a game and have it on fullscreen, it starts then freezes, its 'kind of' progresses, it doesnt actually 'freeze' it seems like it thinks its in the background, when i press the windows key, the game runs fine. The problem is different in different games, for example in forza, i have to keep pressing the windows key to get it to work, after a certain point it runs but i get disconnected from multiplayer lobbies because it 'freezes' i suppose and drops the connection.

In World War Z I get limited to like 15 fps in the foreground, BUT it runs perfectly fine if i press the windows key and make the window unfocused.

What i tried so far:

Running it on a 144hz monitor

Running it on a 60hz monitor

Disabling Game Bar

Uninstalling Game Bar

Disabling Game mode

Updating to the latest drivers

Running on fullscreen

Running on windowed

Running on windowed fullscreen

Running on Vulkan API

Running on DirectX

Obviously I have all other programs that could interfere with it disabled, like discord.

Nothing seems to fix this issue.... And i can literally not play gamepass games because of this now.

:)

Jhonkito

Hi Kornél, my name is Jhon, and will be a pleasure help you

Based on the information you've provided, there are several things that could be causing Game Pass PC games to only run in the background.

Software issue: There may be a problem with the graphics card drivers, the Game Pass software, or the games themselves. You can try updating your graphics card drivers to the latest version, uninstalling and reinstalling the Game Pass software, or uninstalling and reinstalling the games.

To suggest using a driver updater, first search for Windows Update or use driverbooster.

By the way, what Windows are you using?

Best regards, Jhon

Zuraak

I'm having the same issue, with audio popping and juddering a bit. It sounds like someone who doesn't know what they're doing using a compressor/limiter in the studio, where the background battles with the foreground, with foreground causing background
to drop when foreground voices start up and then letting background come back up after foreground voices pause or stop. There's also some popping in the voices that's odd. And it's only the live tv app. Sound in games, movie discs, and amazon instant video
is fine.

ngocphi

If you want fast download you must keep the download in the foreground not background download

BootstrapGolem

i hope skyrim's world reveal will be as epic as fallout 3. seeing springville and megaton in the foreground and the washington monument in the background will always be one of the most memorable moments in video games this generation.

ChainSmokingBob

An emblem foreground and background, along with everything else you will obviously have unlocked between 15 and 130.

PC Game Pass Games only work in the background, not in the foreground