Well, it seems that plenty of interested players are unable to run the Nioh 2 game on Windows 7 because of either the Game Not Starting or Xinput1_4.dll Error. The PC version of Nioh 2 has been released recently in Feb 2021 by KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. on the Steam platform. Although most of the reviews are mostly positive, some of the unfortunate players are having issues with the game launching on their Windows 7 running computer. Now, if you’re also facing the same problem then make sure to follow this troubleshooting guide to fix it.
To be very precise, Nioh 2 PC version requires DirectX 12 which is available on Windows 10. But if you’re a Windows 7 user and trying to play Nioh 2 game then it won’t either launch the game or you may receive Xinput1_4.dll Error whatsoever. This is just because the Nioh 2 game doesn’t officially support Windows 7 or DirectX 11. As plenty of users are still using Windows 7 system and don’t want to upgrade to Windows 10 anytime soon, they can’t run the Nioh 2 game by any means.
Run Nioh 2 on Windows 7 (Game Not Starting / Xinput1_4.dll Error)
Here we’ve provided a couple of possible methods that should work for you in most cases. So, without wasting any more time, let’s get into the guide below.

1. Install Pending Windows 7 Updates
It can highly possible that somehow your Windows 7 build has multiple pending updates that are yet to install like security patch updates or any feature updates. So, it’s highly recommended to try installing all the important and pending Windows 7 updates completely. To do this:
- Click on the Start Menu > Type Windows Update.
- Now, click on it and install all pending updates.
- Wait for the process to complete and restart your computer.