The roll out of the big Windows 11 2022 Update (22H2) hasn't exactly gone super smoothly, and there's now another problem to report: Microsoft says some users may experience “Lower than expected performance in some games”.
That's the latest entry in the list of known issues (opens in new tab) managed by Microsoft (via PC Gamer (opens in new tab)), and it's described as games being sluggish or suffering from stuttering when being played. If it's something that you've noticed since installing the update, you're not alone.
According to Microsoft, it's due to some games and applications “inadvertently enabling GPU performance debugging features not meant to be used by consumers” – so it's a built-in Windows 11 feature that's being turned on when it shouldn't be.
Can you fix it?
Microsoft has paused the roll out of the 22H2 update to computers that it thinks might be vulnerable to the bug, but if you've already installed it, then the official advice is that updating affected programs and games to newer versions “might” help with the issue.
Other than that, Microsoft says that it is “working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release” – so in other words you'll need to sit tight and wait it out until a fix is included in a future Windows 11 patch.
You may still be able to roll back to the previous version of Windows 11 while Microsoft sorts out its code: from Settings, pick System, then Recovery, and then Go back to return to the version of the software without the 22H2 update applied.
Analysis: bumps in the road
When you're updating millions of computers, it's inevitable that some of them are going to run into some problems – but the aim is always to make sure those problems are as minor as possible and affect as few devices as possible.
It's difficult to assess how widespread this problem is, though considering that a Reddit thread on the problem (opens in new tab) has attracted hundreds of comments, we're guessing that a substantial number of games are going to be hit by this issue.
We previously reported on a significant chunk of users experiencing problems with gaming performance after applying the 22H2 update to their machines, and it seems likely that this is the same batch of issues, now officially recognized and acknowledged by Microsoft.
Considering this major update has also caused problems with printers and Windows Hello, Microsoft will be hoping that it can iron out this gaming issue as quickly as possible – otherwise take up of the Windows 11 operating system is going to remain low.
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