Are your PC games crashing after the latest Windows 11 update? Microsoft is investigating whether a nasty new bug is the cause — but there are workarounds

Since the August update for Windows 11, several PC games have been crashing, freezing or closing unexpectedly, according to Microsoft. The issue appears to be tied to peripherals or internal device components featuring RGB lighting, which may install drivers with filenames similar to inpoutx64. When these drivers are found in affected systems, launching certain games seems to trigger the problem.

Microsoft is currently investigating the relationship between these RGB components and the games causing the issue. Some theories suggest that the latest Windows 11 update has tightened security measures, which may be causing conflicts with game drivers and anti-cheat tools. Workarounds for the problem include removing the August update for Windows 11 or deleting the problematic driver file, located in the C:\Windows\System32\drivers folder.

However, these workarounds come with risks, as deleting the driver may lead to system instability or loss of security features. Microsoft is still working to determine if the issue is caused by their update or if it's a separate driver-related problem.