KB5077181 (March 2026) breaks Unity games graphics on Parallels 26.3.0 / Windows 11 ARM

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Title: KB5077181 (March 2026) breaks Unity games graphics on Parallels 26.3.0 / Windows 11 ARM / Apple Silicon

Configuration:

MacBook Pro M3 Max
Parallels Desktop 26.3.0 (57392)
Windows 11 ARM 25H2 (Build 26200)

Problem:
After the March 2026 Windows updates, Unity-based games (tested with Rise of Kingdoms) get stuck on the loading screen and never launch. The game was working perfectly fine before the updates.
Important -- update cascade behavior:
The updates were installed in cascade. KB5077181 only appeared in the uninstall list after first removing the two updates installed on top of it:

First had to uninstall KB5085516 (out-of-band emergency update, March 21 2026)
Then uninstall KB5079473 (March 10 2026 Patch Tuesday)
Only then did KB5077181 appear in the uninstall list

After uninstalling KB5077181 and restarting the VM, the game immediately worked again. This confirms KB5077181 as the root cause -- KB5085516 and KB5079473 alone do not trigger the issue.
Root cause:
KB5077181 appears to break the Metal↔DirectX graphics translation layer in Parallels on Apple Silicon. The issue is specific to this KB.
Temporary workaround:

Disable Windows Update service first to prevent automatic reinstall:

sc.exe stop wuauserv
sc.exe config wuauserv start=disabled

Uninstall updates in this exact order via Settings → Windows Update → Update history → Uninstall updates:

KB5085516
KB5079473
KB5077181


Restart the VM after each uninstall
Once KB5077181 is removed, the game works again
Re-enable Update service and suspend updates for several weeks:

sc.exe config wuauserv start=auto
sc.exe start wuauserv
Then: Settings → Windows Update → Pause updates → 5 weeks
Request:
Please investigate the compatibility between KB5077181 and Parallels' graphics layer on ARM. A fix either via updated Parallels Tools or a patched graphics driver would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks for sharing such a detailed breakdown I'm actually running into something very similar, and I have the same question about what exactly is going on here. After the recent updates, I also noticed odd behavior with Unity-based apps/games in Parallels, and like you, everything was working perfectly fine before. Your step-by-step uninstall explanation is really helpful, because I hadn't yet pinpointed which update might be causing it.

The part about the Metal ↔ DirectX translation layer makes a lot of sense, especially on Apple Silicon where everything depends on that compatibility layer. I'm also wondering if this is something Parallels needs to patch on their side or if Microsoft will address it in a future update. Either way, it's definitely not an ideal situation, so I'm hoping someone from the team or community can confirm a proper fix or safer long-term solution.