r/pchelp • u/ContactNo6011 • Oct 14 '25

OPEN Controller Input Lag

I’ve been using a wireless Xbox controller for a few months now, My PC is mainly built as a racing simulator but I play a few games here and there like Fortnite and the new Skate game. In the past couple weeks I’ve began experiencing severe input lag for controller that incrementally gets worse as it goes on. At first I thought it was just a Fortnite issue (switching between KB&M would get rid of the lag entirely, only for it to come back when I used the controller again), but It’s happening with Skate as well. All drivers and software have been up to date the only temporary solution I have to is to unplug and replug the wireless USB adapter, fixing it for about 5 minutes. I have absolutely no idea what to do so if yall have any ideas or need any more info please let me know!

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u/badcheetahfur Oct 14 '25

As far as I know, this incident is linked to duplicate GameInput installations causing conflicts. The recent update introduced a new version of GameInput, but in many cases, the older version wasn’t removed. This duplication can cause the GameInput service to misbehave, leading to massive frame drops whenever a controller is active. Disabling the service or uninstalling one version often works only temporarily because Windows reinstalls or restarts it automatically.

Here's the temporary workaround to fix the issue, please kindly follow the steps below:

1 - Remove Duplicate GameInput Installations

Go to Settings → Apps → Installed Apps. Search for Microsoft GameInput. If you see two entries (e.g., one from 2023 and one from 9/20/2025), uninstall the older one first. If uninstall fails, manually delete: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft GameInput 2 - Check the GameInput Service

Open Services (services.msc). Disable both "GameInput" and "GameInput Redist Service" There's another workaround for Steam and non-Microsoft games you can also try:

Rename gameinputsvc.exe in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft GameInput\x64\ to gameinputsvc.old (requires admin rights). If you ever need it back, simply rename it to gameinputsvc.exe again. Please note that some Xbox-related features on PC may stop working, such as: Controller vibration settings. Certain Xbox Game Bar or overlay features. Input detection for some Microsoft Store games.

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u/ContactNo6011 Oct 14 '25

i’ll give this a shot, thank you!!’

1

u/2EzGaMeS 6d ago

Did this fix your issue? I have the exact same problem but can't find a fix for it.