FATAL EXIT — "Allocator failed to allocate" memory-pool crash, mid-game (Build 16.2.10604)

Age of Empires IV IV - Report a Bug
1

  • Build Number: 16.2.10604.0

  • Platform: Xbox / Microsoft Store (Game Pass PC version)

  • Operating System: Windows 11

Issue:

The game crashes to desktop mid-match with a FATAL EXIT. It happens roughly twice per play session and has been constant since April 2026 - I can’t finish ranked or multiplayer games. (New account, so I can’t attach files yet - pasting the relevant log lines inline below.)

The fatal crash (warnings.log):

RangeFixedBlockAllocator::Alloc (requested:312), (capacity:1434451968) pool 5 was full, trying next pool with larger blocksize(1024).
RangeFixedBlockAllocator::Alloc (requested:312), (capacity:1434451968) No pool had room for this allocation.
(F) Allocator failed to allocate:  requested(312), current usage(443890754), capacity(1673527296)
(F) -- FATAL EXIT --
Application crashed.

This looks identical to other reports - same requested(312) and the same capacity(1673527296) ceiling - so the internal fixed-block memory pool seems to exhaust regardless of system RAM (I have 64 GB).

Framerate visibly decays across the match right before the crash (warnings.log):

Local user framerate is [41.18]
Local user framerate is [40.59]
Local user framerate is [37.27]

Every crash is preceded by multi-second main-thread stalls / lock waits (LogFiles\unhandled.*.txt):

NetworkManager::DispatchEvents() - Warning - Time between calls was 5363 ms
SessionManager::Process() - Warning - Time between calls was 2480 ms, time waiting for lock was 2469 ms

Frequency: 11 crashes logged, roughly 2 per session: 2026-04-11 (x2), 04-18 (x2), 05-02 (x2), 05-03 (x2), 06-06 (x2), 06-14 (x1).

The game is correctly using the dedicated GPU (warnings.log), so this is not a wrong-GPU issue:

Chosen adapter: NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell Generation Laptop GPU
NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 ... 7951MB dedicated video memory available
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10DE)   Installed Driver Version: r595_00

System (well above spec, not a hardware limit):
CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 285H / RAM: 64 GB
GPU: NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell Laptop, 8 GB VRAM, driver r595
OS: Windows 11

2

Same issue here. Game just hard resets while trying to play on a custom map with my friend.

3

Update — 2026-07-03. Still crashing, now on Build 16.2.10884.0 (Game Pass PC).

Two things I ruled out today; neither stopped it:

  • Updated NVIDIA driver r595 → 610.47 (crash log confirms Installed Driver Version: r610_45). No change.
    • Enabled texture streaming (it had been off). No change.
      The very first match after both changes crashed with the identical failure — and pool usage was actually lower this time, which makes the fragmentation angle clearer. Pool walk from warnings.log:
RangeFixedBlockAllocator::Alloc (requested:312), (capacity:1434451968) pool 5 was full, trying next pool with larger blocksize(1024).
RangeFixedBlockAllocator::Alloc (requested:312), (capacity:1434451968) No pool had room for this allocation.
(F) Allocator failed to allocate:  requested(312), current usage(423546740), capacity(1673527296)
(F) -- FATAL EXIT --

Note current usage(423546740) ≈ 423 MB against capacity(1673527296) ≈ 1.67 GB — a 312-byte allocation fails while the pool is ~75% empty. This isn’t running out of memory; no fixed-block size-class pool has a free slot. Same 312-byte request and same 1.67 GB ceiling as every earlier report.

Same lead-up as always — framerate decay, then multi-second main-thread stalls right before the exit:

NetworkManager::DispatchEvents() - Warning - Time between calls was 5322 ms
SessionManager::Process() - Warning - Time between calls was 5312 ms waiting for lock

Updated frequency: 13+ crashes now, ~2/session, spanning 2026-04-11 → 2026-07-03, across two builds (16.2.10604 and 16.2.10884) and two driver branches (r595 and r610). No config or hardware change stops it — this is a game-side allocator bug.

(@MaskedBasil3614 above plays these custom-map co-op games with me and sees the same hard-reset. It may just be his client dropping when my host process dies rather than an independent hit, so I won’t overstate it — flagging in case the shared-session timing is useful.)

4

The Game is busted!!!

5

Very frustrating, we haven’t been able to get through a full game in ‘ages’. I switched to a whole different computer, having claude look at logs again here. Anyone else facing this issue? We’re at a point where we simply can’t play anymore. I guess we’ll switch to AOEIII until this is figured out. It has been crashy for us since november with a recent uptick of not being able to finish a game at all now.

6

Update: confirmed on 3 machines, including two players crashing simultaneously in the same match.

Earlier reports in this thread are from my laptop (Core Ultra 9 285H / 64 GB / RTX PRO 2000). Today, on Build 16.2.10884.0 (Game Pass PC), my desktop (i7-11700 / 32 GB / RTX 3070 / driver r590) and my co-op partner’s PC (32 GB / AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB / Adrenalin 26.10.21.05, no mods active) both hit the identical FATAL EXIT — within ~0.5 s of each other, ~42 minutes into the same 4-player custom match, seconds after a player reached Imperial:

RangeFixedBlockAllocator::Alloc (requested:312), (capacity:1434451968) pool 5 was full, trying next pool with larger blocksize(1024).
RangeFixedBlockAllocator::Alloc (requested:312), (capacity:1434451968) No pool had room for this allocation.
(F) Allocator failed to allocate:  requested(312), current usage(423033104), capacity(1673527296)
(F) -- FATAL EXIT --

Key evidence for the devs:

  • current usage(423033104) is byte-identical on both machines (Intel/NVIDIA and AMD) at the moment of death — the arena is being filled by the deterministic lockstep sim, so all peers exhaust it at the same tick and the whole lobby crashes together. This is why it looks like a “hard reset” for everyone in the match.
  • Same requested(312) and capacity(1673527296) across three machines, two GPU vendors, three driver versions, mods on and off — this is a hard-coded engine arena, hardware-independent.
  • The failure is size-class exhaustion, not memory pressure: the arena was only ~25% used (423 MB of 1.67 GB), but the 512-byte pool (pool 5) and all larger pools were full.
  • No degradation before death: one machine was at 50 fps, the other at 108 fps one second before the crash; network counters healthy on both; the only stall recorded is at the fatal instant (caused by the crash, not causing it).

Reproduction profile: long (40+ min) 4-player custom lobbies, large map (size 640), late Castle/Imperial with big armies. Happy to provide full warnings.log files from all machines on request.

7

77 views and nothing? Are me and my buddy seriously alone in this crashing?

Another weekend has arrived and again we can’t play our fav game. I guess AOE 3 will become our favorite game again.

8

Hi, I had to create an account just for this topic. I’m experiencing the same issue with a friend of mine. My PC is older generation but my friend has a more modern laptop: RTX 4060 etc. if I remember correctly. No matter who is hosting a match, the game will crash.

Have you tried 8 player games? I was able to play a full match with 7 bots without any crashes. I’m gonna try again some other time. It’s a very frustrating issue…

9

@RangedChunk029 @MaskedBasil3614 have you guys tried custom match with none of the win conditions selected (landmarks etc.)? Mine seems to be stable when I uncheck all of them. I can play alone or with a friend against bots.

10

Sorry for the late reply. Honestly we’ve given up on this game until this is fixed. Pretty bummed about it. Pretty sure I’ve given the devs all they need to fix it, hopefully it’ll be fixed at some point.

11

No worries, I’ve given up too, actually.

The “win conditions” thing I explained above is a working workaround, so that one can play custom games, but it disables game’s basic functionality/modes. The workaround mode is really annoying during end-game especially, when every small building etc. has to be searched and destroyed, just to win an already defeated opponent.

12

We’ve tried many things but at this point we can’t finish a match, not even half way through. We usually only do multiplayer, 2x2 (2 humans vs 2 AI) with landmarks victory.

13

Adding this as a further example, as I, too, am facing this issue.

Adding a Steam-platform confirmation of this exact bug — same signature,
different platform and region setup from the reports above.

Build Number: 16.3.11308.0 [release_16_3_0][rtm]
Platform: Steam / PC
Operating System: Windows 11 (10.0.26200)
Hardware: AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 w/ Radeon 890M CPU / NVIDIA RTX 5080 Laptop GPU / 32 GB RAM (ASUS ROG laptop)

Setup: 2-player multiplayer
Crash to desktop mid-match, roughly 25–40 min in.
Recurs across sessions; two full fatal captures below.

CAPTURE 1 — 12:54:34 (~36 min into match):
(F) Allocator failed to allocate: requested(312), current usage(442739518), capacity(1673527296)
– FATAL EXIT –

CAPTURE 2 — 2026-08-24 21:34:03 (~28 min into match):
RangeFixedBlockAllocator::Alloc (requested:312), (capacity:1434451968) pool 5 was full, trying next pool with larger blocksize(1024).
RangeFixedBlockAllocator::Alloc (requested:312), (capacity:1434451968) No pool had room for this allocation.
(F) Allocator failed to allocate: requested(312), current usage(421166140), capacity(1673527296)
– FATAL EXIT –

Identical signature to every report in this thread: same requested(312),
same pool 5, same 1.67 GB capacity ceiling. It fails on a 312-byte
allocation while the arena is only ~25% used (~421–442 MB of 1.67 GB),
with 12–13 GB of system RAM free. This is size-class pool exhaustion,
not an out-of-memory condition.

To say this is incredibly frustrating does not even start.

When are we going to see a fix?

14

I’m using Steam too, so is my friend. At least the multiplayer works, as @RangedChunk029 described, so it’s not totally broken game…

I haven’t had time to test but it’d be intreresting to see if it is a specific win condition that triggers the bug, or all of them.

15

Hi, I’m having the same issue with my game on steam, I have a rtx 3070 with 8GB VRAM ; Ryzen 5 3600 ; 16 GB Ram ; OS WIN 11, and my game crash with a black screen on most of the games, I can’t find any solution, it’s driving me made. I have to restart the computer every time since it’s goes on black screen.

16

Have you tried to disable all of the win conditions (landmarks etc.)? I know it is not a solution but I’m able to play full matches that way. Either that or multiplayer until this gets fixed… :frowning:

17

Came back yesterday after month to the game, because i was so annoyed by all the disconects, sync errors and such in the past many friends and me or opponents had.

After the second game the game froze. Even my whole PC wasnt responding anymore and had to restart the pc. Never had it before, but well, at least i know now, to not coming back again. AoE4 has so many problems …

18

We exclusively play multiplayer and never get to finish a match. We haven’t played in quite a while now because of this.

19

Well,
I’m sharing my account here for the record, in case others come looking for information.

I’m the only one among my friends and family reporting this error here.

Most people don’t even want to waste time complaining; they simply switch to another game, play solo, or stick to other game modes whenever possible.

There are plenty of complaints on the Steam forums, too.

THE ERROR:
The infamous BLACK SCREEN, or the game simply SHUTTING DOWN OUT OF NOWHERE , sometimes an error message appears, but not always.
This issue—occurring when trying to play Multiplayer private/custom matches with friends.
It’s worth noting that this is a long-standing issue, not a new one; it keeps recurring and intensifying—or seemingly fluctuating—with each patch.

As far as I recall, it started becoming more noticeable between 2023 and 2024.

Back in 2021 and 2022, when the two or three of us played, we didn’t have this problem.

Generally, the game worked fine when playing as a duo. However, in recent years, performance has varied depending on the patch, and it seems to have gotten worse over time.

By 2024/2023:
That’s when our NIGHTMARE began—once we started playing with groups of 4, 5, 6 people! By 2024, this issue was happening most of the time. I don’t think we ever managed to finish a match when playing with the whole group of friends. Someone would always drop out—and it was always a different person—and if we kept playing, another random person would drop. It was BIZARRE.

This is the only game on Steam that none of us has ever managed to play in peace with several friends at the same time!

Nowadays, none of my friends play this game anymore.

I’ve practically stopped playing; I rarely do so now, but I plan to give it up completely.

I’ve contacted the support team and provided the requested information and data, but I never received a final response.

I hope a future Age of Empires V uses a new engine so this problem doesn’t happen again.
The thing is, there’s no fix for Age of Empires IV; it’s simply unstable.

Fortunately for us, we’re heading back into an era of RTS games—with a huge number of announcements, projects in development, and releases—so from 2026 onwards, it’s going to be a great time for fans of the genre.

That’s about it.
Good luck to everyone!

20

omfg… I didn’t know the bug has existed for so long… Thanks for your input. Now I know not to sit and wait for a fix, lol. It will be a miracle once they fix the game (if ever).

Cheers, everyone!