Windows Update breaking games fix might restore ARC Raiders and The Finals
Windows Update Woes: How a Single Patch Caused Gaming Chaos
The pursuit of a smooth gaming session often involves the promise of new features, but sometimes those updates arrive with unexpected side effects. Recently, some desktop PC gamers have been grappling with a frustrating new reality: a specific Windows 11 update appears to be introducing severe instability, leading to crashes, freezes, and unexpected reboots.
This headache is linked to the August 11 update, specifically update KB5121003. It affects users running Windows 11 builds 25H2 and 24H2, which correspond to OS builds 26200.9168 and 26100.9168.
Microsoft is aware of the situation and is actively investigating the reported issues. However, the immediate consequence for players has been jarring: games have been forced to go unresponsive, crash entirely, or kick the user out with an EXCEPTIONACCESSVIOLATION error, forcing an abrupt end to the session.
While the problem doesn’t seem to be a universal catastrophe, reports have focused heavily on specific titles, including ARC Raiders, MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls, and The Finals. It’s a reminder that even minor system patches can introduce major complications for the community.
The technical community has been quick to pinpoint the suspected culprit. Developers from Embark Studios, the team behind some of the affected titles, pointed toward changes in a kernel-level driver file, specifically inpoutx64.sys, as the likely source of the communication breakdown between the driver and the operating system.
Embark is working on a long-term resolution, but in the meantime, gamers have found a temporary workaround to restore stability. If you are experiencing these crashes, here is the manual fix that has helped others restore smooth gameplay:
First, launch the Command Prompt as Administrator. Next, enter the command sc stop inpoutx64 and press Enter. Then, in the same window, run the command sc delete inpoutx64 and press Enter. After that, navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers in your File Explorer, locate the inpoutx64.sys file, and delete it.
This procedure successfully clears the file, allowing games to run smoothly again. While this offers temporary relief, users have the option to roll back their Windows 11 installation to an older update version until Microsoft delivers a permanent fix. For now, it is a frustrating, yet highly actionable, reminder that software updates are complex, and the quest for stable gaming environments continues.
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