GoKawiilMicrosoft has shared a temporary fix for ongoing gaming issues caused by Windows 11 updates released during the August 2026 Patch Tuesday.
On impacted PCs, users reported games crashing or failing to launch, as well as game freezes, "EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION" errors, and even unexpected system restarts.
When it confirmed it was investigating this known issue on Wednesday, Microsoft said it affects games like ARC Raiders, MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls, and The Finals on systems running Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2.
"Following the release of Windows updates on August 11, 2026 (KB5121003) and later, Microsoft received reports of issues involving inability to run games as expected," Microsoft noted.
In a Thursday update, the company linked the gaming issues to drivers or components installed by RGB devices on affected Windows systems.
"Ongoing investigation indicates that this issue is related to peripherals or internal device components which have RGB lighting features. Such devices may install drivers or code components with file names similar to inpoutx64. In systems where these drivers are found, the issue is then triggered by launching certain games," it said.
"We are presently working to understand the relationship between these RGB components and the games which trigger this issue. We will provide an update when more information is available."
Embark Studios, the Swedish video game developer behind The Finals and ARC Raiders, confirmed Microsoft's conclusion that inpoutx64.sys causes these issues, but also added that they stem from changes made to the Windows kernel driver.
Official workaround now available
Microsoft has now shared a temporary fix until it resolves the issue, which requires gamers to disable the inpoutx64 driver using the Windows Registry.
... continue reading