When will game mode be released on Windows 10?

Windows 10's Game Mode is designed to improve your PC's performance while gaming by prioritizing your PC's resources for the game you're running. Game mode in Windows appeared after the release of the Windows 10 Creators Update.

Game Mode in Windows 10 optimizes the operating system while running a computer game. In game mode, the performance of the game increases; the work of other applications running at this time is slowed down so that they do not take up computer resources.

Due to the correct distribution of resources, it is possible that the fps in games will increase. By reducing the load on the processor, there will be free power used in game processing.

Keep in mind that improving the performance and optimal operation of a computer game is primarily influenced by completely different factors: the gaming video card, the amount of RAM, and processor power. Optimal gaming performance depends mainly on powerful hardware, not software.

Therefore, enabling game mode in Windows 10, without having hardware that supports demanding games, will lead to an increase in performance in a computer game, but only by a small amount. In any case, you need to try everything experimentally on a specific computer with a specific computer hardware configuration.

The author of these lines does not play games at all (although I had to install quite a lot of games on my computer in my time), there are a large number of gamers in the world (people who love to play computer games). They should definitely try Microsoft's Gaming Mode to be able to play games with maximum comfort.

Game mode in Windows can be enabled in a specific game if it improves PC performance while playing that game (testing required).

How to enable Game Mode on Windows 10

Now let's look at how to activate game mode in Windows 10. Game mode is enabled in the operating system settings by default.

In order to launch Game Mode in Windows 10, you need to do the following:

1. Go to the Start menu, click on Settings.
2. In the Settings window, click on the Games section.
3. In the "Games" section, enter the "Game Mode" setting.
4. In the “Use Game Mode” option, move the switch to the “On” position.

In the “Game Menu” setting, you change the parameters for interacting with the game: displaying the game menu in full screen mode, keyboard shortcuts in “Game Mode,” etc.

Game mode in Windows 10: how to enable Game Mode in a game

Game mode must be enabled in a computer game running on Windows 10 if this mode helps improve system performance while using the game on a computer.

To launch Windows 10 Game Mode in a game, follow these steps:

1. Press the "Win" + "G" keyboard keys.
2. In the game panel that opens, click on the “Settings” icon (gear).

1. In the settings window, in the “General” tab, in the “Game Mode” section, activate the “Use Game Mode for this game” option.

Restart the game for the game mode to take effect.

How to disable Game Mode in Windows 10

In order to turn off game mode in Windows 10, you need to enter the operating system settings:

1. From the Start menu, go to Settings.
2. In Settings, open the Games category.
3. Enter the "Game Mode" section.
4. In the “Use Game Mode” setting, move the switch to the “Disabled” position.

Game mode became available in Windows 10 with the Creators Update, which is designed to improve performance in computer games. Let's look at how to enable game mode in Windows 10?

Windows 10 Creators Update offers the user many improvements and new features, including the introduction of a new Game Mode feature. But can this feature actually increase frame rates? What is its effect and how to enable it?

What is Game Mode in Windows 10?

Windows 10 runs many services and background processes that take up your computer's resources and can slow down gaming performance. Many users try to get the most out of their computer but are hampered by the fact that some system processes may be running in the background while gaming.

Game mode solves this problem. After its activation, the game process receives the highest priority. All resources will be distributed in favor of the game process, and currently “unnecessary” services that run in the background will be limited. As tests show, the function does not so much affect the frame rate per second, but, of course, allows you to limit the so-called “slowdowns” in games, which often occur due to the fact that some system process is running in the background, for example, a file indexing service ( in turn causes high disk load).

How to activate the Game Mode feature

Player mode can be enabled through the game menu, which is called up using the “Win ​​+ G” keys. The menu is an overlay in the style of those offered by Steam or Origin. In its settings you can enable the mode for a running process.

First, you need to check that the game menu is enabled in Windows 10. Open the Start menu, go to Settings (gear icon) and select the Games tab.

Here you should check if the “Display game menu during playback in full screen mode, verified by Microsoft” checkbox is checked.

Pay attention to the name of this option, you might think that game mode can only be enabled in those games that were purchased from the Windows Store as universal apps (UWP), for example, Rise of Tomb Raider.

But this is not true at all. The menu can be enabled via the Win+G key combination in any game, provided that it was launched in windowed or full-screen format. It is enough to go into the image settings in the options and set the display format from “Full Screen” to “Windowed” or “Windowed without frame”.

When the game is already running in windowed format (or in full screen if downloaded from the Windows Store), simply press the Win+G key combination. The Windows 10 game menu will appear on the screen.

Click on the gear icon to go to settings. In the menu, find the option “Use game mode for this game.”

It will be enough to check this item to enable a mode that will increase productivity. Now you can switch it to the classic full-screen format - the settings in the menu will be saved, and the game mode will still be enabled.

In the release version of Windows 10 Creators Update, scheduled for release in April of this year, a special mode will become available that will certainly interest gamers. Its official name is “Game Mode” (aka “Game Mode”). Although the technical details of this feature are not fully known, Microsoft claims that Game Mode allows you to play with maximum comfort, providing a smoother experience in PC games. So let's see what this mode does and how to enable it.

What is "Game Mode"?

Video games are applications that use system resources intensively. Computer game performance is measured in FPS - the number of frames a computer can process in one second. The higher the FPS, the smoother the image and the more enjoyable the gameplay. A frame rate of 60 FPS is considered the standard and sufficient for most players.

If your computer's performance is poor, most modern games will experience very low frame rates. And if some resource-intensive system process starts during the game, FPS may drop even more and the game will become completely “unplayable”. Game Mode aims to prevent this from happening by taming background processes and stabilizing the average frame rate.

Low FPS

The essence of the game mode is to distribute system resources in such a way that the lion's share of them is allocated not to background processes, but to the game. So far, it seems like nothing new, because programs for optimizing gameplay have existed for a long time. Razer Game Booster is one of many examples. However, the game mode, although it works on the same principle, promises to be better than its counterparts, since it is implemented at the system level.

According to Microsoft, when Game Mode is enabled, even more graphics card resources are allocated to the game, but the game mode still has the greatest impact on the central processor. If a computer, for example, is equipped with a processor with eight cores, then six of them, if necessary, can be used for the needs of the game. In this case, two cores will remain at the disposal of the operating system. But at the same time, if the system determines that the resources allocated to the game are still necessary for the operation of background tasks, then they will be provided to them.

How to enable game mode

Gamer mode can be activated independently if the game parameters have been defined by the developers so that it always starts in Game mode (for example, Gears of War 4 and Forza Horizon 3). Plus, to automatically activate the game mode, the corresponding option must be enabled, which is located in the following path: “Options” - “Games” - “Game Mode”.

Game mode can also be activated manually - for each game separately: after launching the game, press the Windows + G keys on your keyboard, go to the game panel settings and check the “Use game mode for this game” checkbox. After this, the game will always start in Game mode.

In conclusion, we note that this mode is not limited to games downloaded from the Windows Store, and works with gaming applications from other sources - Steam, GOG.com, etc. In addition, Microsoft promises that this is just the beginning and Game Mode will develop further: with each major update, Windows 10 will receive a new version of the game mode.

Have a great day!

"Ten" is the best gaming OS from the entire Windows family. And judging by the number of games, it is also the best gaming OS for computers. Another step by its developers was the release of Game Mode, which happened quite recently. Naturally, many gamers are interested and want to figure out how to launch the game mode.

Game Mode optimizes the entire PC experience to get maximum performance in a particular game. This is achieved, first of all, by disabling unnecessary background processes, plus there are a few more tricks that the creators have found. As a result, we get that all computer funds are used to improve the gameplay and achieve maximum graphics quality. Many gamers will like this mode.

How to launch Game Mode?

This is not so easy to do now. The fact is that the official version of the update, which includes a game mode, is still in development, at least for Russian users. Therefore, there is no Game Mode itself yet. However, Windows suggests that users update in advance, partly at their own risk. Those who are already very experienced can try it. The update is called the Creators Update.

Installing the update

Launch Game Mode

If you now have the latest version of Windows, you can activate Game Mode. Let's look in detail at how to enable game mode in Windows 10. This is done in different ways.

First

Second

Turning on the mode, as you can see, is easy, and you can disable the new function in the same ways: remove the marker in the internal menu or move the slider through the settings.

What does Game Mode do?

Not everyone can immediately feel the dramatic differences in gameplay. This can be explained in different ways.

1. You have a very powerful gaming computer. In this case, no additional modes are needed - the machine copes with its tasks perfectly without additional means.
2. Launching the game for you is accompanied by disabling most programs and processes. Game mode is most effective when the computer has to cope with many tasks at once - the installed Game Mode turns them off or puts them into the background and leaves all the power of the processor and video card for games. If one program is running, then the PC simply cannot find where to cut anything in order to optimize it.

So don't expect your old laptop to suddenly become a performance monster as soon as you install Game Mode. No, the function only optimally distributes existing resources, but does not add new ones.

What else is useful?

The presence of a game mode is a serious step towards turning a PC into a full-fledged gaming center. On Windows 10, there is already an Xbox app, with which you can connect your computer to the console, as well as buy games, earn achievements, play online and communicate with other users. In addition, even without Xbox (applications) you can use some useful things. To do this, in an open game you need to press the Win+G key combination.

The new game mode - Game Mode - from the Windows 10 Creators Update, looks, without a doubt, extremely tempting: they give us a free improvement in the performance of the computer. The reality is a little more complicated, but we found a lot of appeal here, especially if you try to play on a regular workhorse rather than on a high-end gaming PC. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

So: what is it and where can you find it?

Meet Game Mode Windows 10

Game Mode in Windows 10 is designed to improve computer performance in games, both to increase dry frame rate numbers (FPS) and to generally “smooth out” the image. This is achieved by reassigning a large part of your computer's resources to the very game that you are currently running, which does not allow parallel running processes to take over the machine's power and cause sudden interruptions in the gameplay (goodbye, sudden anti-virus scans!). Game Mode in Windows 10 gives games more GPU clocks and a certain number of main system processor threads, although the specific details will depend on your system configuration.

How to start Game Mode on Windows 10

To our delight, Game Mode works with all games, not just those from the Windows Store. Unfortunately, it's not very clear how to enable this mode yourself, since the Creators Update function is hidden in a particularly dark corner of the Game Bar. Microsoft says some "official" games will launch Game Mode automatically, but we'll have to see how they handle that, even with Microsoft titles like Gears of War 4 or Forza Horizon 3.

To enable it, launch your game and press the Windows + G keys to bring up the Windows 10 Game Bar. Select Settings on the right side of the bar to view a list of settings. Check the box next to the Use Game Mode for this game option. After which you can simply close the dialog box and the Game Mode panel - and, in fact, start playing. There is no need to restart the game for the changes to take effect, but you will have to manually enable this option each time on each toy you would like to use it with.

Testing Game Mode on Windows 10

Microsoft downplayed the results of the new option, revealing how it actually works and advising to expect a 2-5% performance increase. This is just Windows resource switching, not a miracle. Initial testing of Game Mode by PC Gamer, PCGamesN, and Laptop Mag on dedicated gaming systems showed little to no improvement. Why, PC Gamer even observed a decrease in performance when launching Game Mode in the Hitman game!

So if you have a relatively modern gaming “tank” with a “large-caliber” graphics card, don’t expect much from Game Mode. And if not?

Microsoft's announcements about improving graphics smoothness intrigued me a lot. Assigning a certain amount of system resources to a specific game may not have much of an impact on a gaming PC filled to the top with powerful hardware, but for a more resource-dependent budget system or even a laptop, it will be simply a coup. It’s the latter that I’ll be testing here.

Here's our testing tool - Microsoft's Surface Book

Microsoft provided PCWorld with the Creators Update, installing it on our Office Surface Book. This isn't your average laptop: our top-of-the-line model features a 1TB SSD, 16GB of RAM, a Core i7 processor, and a discrete Nvidia graphics card. However, this card is a rather modest GTX 965M with 2GB of RAM, and the processor is limited to just two cores. So while the Surface Book is a cool laptop, it's not up to par with gaming PC standards.

Windows Store games, being universal Windows apps, will probably benefit from Game Mode more than other games because they don't generate additional processes. So we tested Gears of War 4, a DirectX 12 game written as a Universal Windows app, alongside the DX11 version of Rise of the Tomb Raider on Steam. We also tested an older Bioshock Infinite game with the Nvidia graphics card disabled, just to see how Game Mode handled integrated graphics.

Each of the positions was run on the default game standards, with average graphics settings at a resolution of 1280x800. This allowed all three to reach an acceptable level of 30 frames per second. We tested each game in four different ways.

At first, each control task was launched without any system support other than Nvidia software, GeForce Experience.

As you can see, Game Mode made almost no difference in all three games. If you don't have any parallel programs running, competing for precious CPU power, Game Mode is of little or no value to you.

After that, it's time to muddy the waters by running background processes. We opened an automatic YouTube playlist in the Edge browser, started turning up the volume of music in the Spotify player, and at the same time launched AVG antivirus - a completely plausible simulation of what a real user can do in parallel with the game - and tested each game in Game Mode and without it.

Bioshock and Tomb Raider both showed limited average frame rate increases, around 1 frame per second or so - basically nothing that your eye would be able to notice in real life. But with Gears of War 4 it turned out to be very interesting. Firstly, productivity against the backdrop of basic processes literally skyrocketed, by about 50% overall. This is great. Additionally, Game Mode proves to be a real asset under these conditions, increasing frame rates by just over 6 fps. This may not sound particularly significant, but when you're hanging around at just 30 fps, that's an increase of almost a whopping 22%. This is also enough to push Gears above 30 fps, which is considered by many gamers to be the minimum acceptable frame rate. Amazing!

But it's still not as amazing as Game Mode's impact on the minimum frame rate when apps in the background were consuming system resources. First, let's look at the minimum frequency without basic system processes - for comparison. (Bioshock Infinite and Rise of the Tomb Raider's numbers show the absolute lowest frame rates achieved during testing, while Gears 4's numbers hover within 5% of normal levels.)

Boring. As with the averages, there is almost no difference. Game Mode doesn't change anything as long as you don't overload your computer with a lot of programs. But if you do, then Windows 10's Game Mode provides a significant boost, enough to make a simple but significant difference between the game running and not running.

Running our trio of programs in the background blows the minimum frame rate to smithereens. With Game Mode disabled, Gears stumbles over its own shadow, dropping from nearly 50 fps to just 12.5 fps. And this, in addition, is a very dirty 12.5 fps, with almost constant jerking and slow or completely freezing movements. Frame rates in Bioshock and Tomb Raider games, in turn, drop by almost two-thirds, below 10 fps. And while Bioshock's results look bad on the chart, Tomb Raider actually performs significantly worse, stuttering, stuttering, and stumbling just like Gears, with the added "bonus" of lengthy loading times for each subsequent testing segment.

Moving slightly away from the control tasks, closer to the gaming itself, Bioshock could still be tortured somehow. But Gears and Rise of the Tomb Raider were completely un-games - literally at all. Turning on even a couple of normal basic processes while trying to play on our beautiful laptop, which cost over three thousand dollars, was a terrible disaster.

This is what it's like trying to play these games without activating Game Mode.

But Game Mode softened this mode - and just right.

I'm not going to go so far as to say that playing Gears 4 and Rise of the Tomb Raider with background processes running was particularly enjoyable. Game Mode eliminated the long pauses and smoothed out the stuttering just enough to allow some gaming, and this gaming experience can hardly be compared to the pleasure of real gaming on a prepared, sophisticated gaming machine. The frame rate in all games hovered around 30 fps, with occasional dips and brief stumbling.

And yet, although the minimum frequency in Bioshock and Tomb Raider was pretty lame, when Game Mode was activated it doubled. Obsessive gamers accustomed to standards of at least 60 fps will hardly be satisfied with this game. But for users trying to run some games on more modest machines, Game Mode is definitely worth checking out.

No magic

This brief test is far from comprehensive, but it shows that Game Mode isn't as much of an overkill option as earlier reviews made it out to be. If you're gaming on a modest desktop or laptop with limited capabilities, Windows 10's Game Mode can make "non-playable" games work just fine (though in a case like ours, it might be better to just close those parallel programs). I suspect the effect will be even more pronounced on simpler laptops than the luxurious Surface Book with a Core i7 processor.

Dedicated gamers with fancy PCs will probably benefit less from Windows 10's Game Mode than our testing showed, although I'd bet on edge cases where Game Mode can make more of a difference. Extremely CPU-intensive games like Fallout 4 can see greater gains (if you're the kind of person who keeps other programs open while playing) than games running on ultra-fast 144Hz monitors that can literally grind your CPU to the ground. . I also wouldn't be surprised if Game Mode doesn't bring much benefit, since AMD chips are loaded to the brim with cores and threads. Will need to test it!

Finally, it doesn’t hurt to remember that Windows 10 Game Mode significantly blocks the resources needed for parallel open applications, which can significantly affect their performance. Activating the game mode reduced the stuttering of the three games tested today, but in turn caused a hitch in the playback of a YouTube video in the background. You should absolutely avoid turning on Game Mode if, for example, you decide to blow off some steam on Steam while another labor-intensive process is moving megabytes of information - keep in mind, it will take longer than usual to do this.