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Windows 10 Game Mode coming to Windows Insiders this week

Microsoft explained more of the mode's particulars, such as gameplay streaming with Beam.

David Craddock

January 25, 2017 3:20 PM

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Microsoft's Game Mode for Windows 10, billed as a new method of optimizing game performance, will be available for Windows Insider members beginning Thursday, January 26.

"With Game Mode, it’s our goal to now take things a step further to make the gaming experience on Windows even better. Our vision is that Game Mode optimizes your Windows 10 PC for an improvement in overall game performance," according to Xbox engineer Scott Henson, who detailed some of the improvements and changes Game Mode will introduce in a blog.

Through Game Mode, Microsoft hopes to optimize games in two ways. "One, an increase in overall framerate, or peaks, and two, an increase in average framerates, or consistency," as explained in an accompanying video, viewable below.

Enabling Game Mode is as simple as pressing Windows key + G to pull up the Game Bar and clicking on Settings. From there, you choose to optimize a game already running using Game Mode. Once Game Mode is active, Windows will automatically shuffle resources around so CPU and GPU prioritize the game.

Game Mode is supposed to be compatible with contemporary Windows games (Universal Windows Platform, or UWP) as well as legacy titles running on Win32 architecture, although Microsoft does caution that "it's possible not every game will work with Game Mode right now."

Game Mode will be made widely available this summer as part of the Creators Update for Windows 10 and Xbox One. Optimization is Microsoft's goal across both platforms; on the Xbox One Side, Snap mode has been removed to devote more resources to software and common tasks such as UI navigation.

David Craddock

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.