Game App continually shows ads even when buying app twice, only on 20H2 build.

[tropolite]

Hi

Background:

I have the 20H2 build on my Surface Pro 3 installed. 

There's a particular game app I use purchased from the Microsoft Store called Sudoku Free. I also have it installed on my Desktop PC on the standard Windows 10 release. I've also contacted support for the game however they were unable to resolve the issue

Issue:

Even though the game is installed on both my devices at the same location, and I'm logged onto both devices with the same account, the Desktop game app functions properly when opened. On my Surface Pro 3 with the Insider release of the OS (the only significant difference between both devices, when opening Sudoku Free on my SP3 the app displays ads on the game app window. If I select "Remove Ads" after a moment (most times), the app asks to confirm my Store login (pin), then shows that I already own this app and once I continue the ads disappear. The ads do not show up on my Desktop PC using the same game and credentials.

At one point on my SP3, the Store asked me to buy the game again so I went through the process thinking that it would recognize I've already purchased the game however it accepted the purchase so now I've effectively purchased the game twice.

Now even with purchasing the game twice the app still shows the Ads asking me to Remove Ads which I continue to do yet each time I open the game the Ads are shown (see attachment).

I've attempted to uninstall the game a couple times, different ways, reboot then reinstall. I've tried resetting the app in Windows 10. I've contacted the game support personnel and they are baffled why the game continually opens with the Ads displaying. Other than the Ads the game works as it should.

Is there solution to this issue that I can perform as I don't want to have to buy the game again in the near future. (PS I've logged out and back into the Store in the attempt to refresh and to make sure both devices are logged in as the same account.

Thanks for any suggestions. 

[#2]

Hi,
oh shouldn't have bought it again cause you were sure that you already had paid for it once, it's obviously a bug in insider builds.
are you using Xbox app beta or Xbox console companion beta? if you are then try using the non-beta versions of them,
also try posting this as problem on feedback hub app, attach a problem repro to your feedback that shows how and where this problem exactly happens, hopefully it will capture the necessary data for Microsoft to find out and solve it, don't forget to put a link to it here to upvote :)

with that said, there are workarounds to get rid of the ads, one of them is to add the addresses for ad servers to Windows hosts file, something like an adblocker to prevent seeing those ads.

you can easily find out what those addresses are for your Sudoko game using tools like Fiddler, or you can grab a long list of all ad servers from the internet and add all of them to your hosts file.

[#3]

@HotCakeX 

Hi...

I didn't want to buy the game again but thought it would recognize the previous and default back to showing me the "You've already purchased this app" message box. I figured it to be an OS Insider issue and thought someone may have identified it already.

The game isn't an Xbox game, it is directly from Microsoft Store, a Win10 app. 

Thanks for the suggestion re: Workarounds, but I'd rather not do it that way via hosts file. 

I'll post it on Feedback hub also as you suggested, I'll see how I go with that option to get a solution.

Thanks for your suggestions.

[UPDATE] About 2hrs ago a new update Windows 10 Insider Preview 19033.1 (vb_release) came down.

With this update I opened Sudoku Free and the Ads are no longer showing. So even though I purchased the game twice, the issue is resolved from what I can see.

[#4]

You're welcome, good luck :)