By Richard Speed
Publication Date: 2026-08-20 11:03:00
OS PLATFORMS
Affected titles crash, freeze, or restart PCs while Redmond works out whether it is to blame
Microsoft is investigating reports of games crashing after users installed August’s Patch Tuesday update for Windows 11.
The company acknowledged the reports on its Release Health page. Affected games may become unresponsive, close unexpectedly, throw an “EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION” error, or trigger an unexpected device restart.
Reports of the problem followed the release of KB5121003 for Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2. The KB5121003 support page still lists no known issues, but Microsoft has separately confirmed on Release Health that it is investigating the game crash reports.
The problem does not affect every title. Microsoft named ARC Raiders, MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls, and The Finals among those generating reports.
The Windows giant has not accepted responsibility, writing: “We are presently…