Details Windows Game Mode Explained January 26, 2017
Uncategorized
0 Comment

Details Windows Game Mode Explained

 

 

We already posted news on the Game Mode for Windows 10, but it was a little uncertain as to what it exactly does. Well, we can answer that now. The idea behind Game Mode is consistency, rather than performance boosts.

The game-mode is planned for a public release with the creators update. The first version of Game Mode will appear in Build 15019 on the Windows 10 Fast Ring, with further improvements already running on internal builds ready for the coming weeks. As reported at Windows central:

Game Mode will prevent system tasks from taking resources from your games, making frame rates and performance generally more consistent. You should see fewer dropped frames as a result of Game Mode, specifically during scenes and situations that are more intensive on your system’s hardware. Game Mode will also limit CPU thread contention between your games and existing system processes, helping to speed things up even further. The concepts behind Game Mode are already available on Xbox One, which gives games priority access to system resources.

Enabling Game Mode will be as simple as flipping a switch via the Xbox Game Bar, found on Windows 10 by pressing the Windows key and G. Windows 10 will remember which games have Game Mode enabled until you turn it off.

Microsoft told me that while Win32 PC games (typical of Steam) will see some benefits from Game Mode, it will be UWP games (typical of the Windows 10 Store) that see the biggest improvements. This is because the UWP environment is a little more standardized than Win32, and Microsoft can more easily optimize the feature as a result. Microsoft is working with their hardware partners, including Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA, to make sure Game Mode is as good as it can be, optimizing for the most popular hardware configurations available.

Game Mode will be enabled by default for certain games that have undergone thorough testing. So expect first-party UWP games such as Halo Wars 2 and Forza Horizon 3 to leverage Game Mode out of the box.

I asked Microsoft to describe a scenario where you might want to disable Game Mode, and the engineer noted a situation where he wanted to continue rendering at high-speed in Adobe Lightroom in the background, while still enjoying Diablo 3 in the foreground. To that end, it’s good that Microsoft is providing players with the option to disable Game Mode manually for those rigs capable of intensive multi-tasking.

Game Mode will dynamically disable itself when you minimize or set your game into the background, giving your system full access to your hardware while you begin multi-tasking. This is similar to how the Xbox One works today. It sounds as though Game Mode will generally be a seamless experience for those who utilize it. When asked about “Game Mode enabled Universal Windows Apps,”(a phrase that appeared in earlier documentation), and was told that developers won’t have to do anything to support Game Mode in their games, as it will be enabled by default at a system level. However, Microsoft is exploring ways developers can further leverage Game Mode for their games to bring additional benefits down the line.

—

Quite honestly we doubt the new game mode is going to do much. But hey, every little bit helps of course.