Release Configuration not recognizing controller

[Mystixor]

I am testing the project without change right now. The Debug configuration works just fine, however switching to the Release configuration seems to hinder the game from recognizing the controller connected to my PC. The game is playable on controller-only and displays a message on screen to connect a controller, which I cannot fix by unplugging and replugging.

[Mystixor]

I was able to track the issue down to the project property C/C++ > Optimization > Optimization, this setting needs to be set to Disabled (/Od) as all other options yield the result described above. I guess this is not a huge loss, however I do not possess the knowledge to tell why this matters here.