For the last few months we’ve heard tidbits and hints about Microsoft’s upcoming Game Mode for Windows 10. The new mode, which is part of the Creators Update, is supposed to help some games run modestly faster — and as we suspected, it’s all about tuning system resources to dedicate more game-specific work to the CPU or GPU.
At GDC this week, Microsoft said Game Mode will dedicate a certain number of CPU cores to game rendering rather than allowing other background tasks to be scheduled concurrently on those chips, according to Ars Technica. An eight-core system, for example, might have six cores dedicated to gaming, with other tasks shunted to the “spare” cores.
On the GPU side, most of the GPU’s resources are already dedicated to gaming, especially if you’re playing in dedicated fullscreen mode as opposed to the borderless option that’s become popular, especially for UWP games. What Game Mode does in these cases is to dedicate even more GPU power to games and less for background tasks, while simultaneously keeping more of a game’s data in local RAM for easier loading. This should boost performance on lower-end hardware, though previous estimates of gain have been in the 2-5% range for most systems. Early tests of Game Mode didn’t show much benefit at all, though Microsoft could still be improving the feature. Fast Ring Windows 10 members often get early, beta patches of software.
Early tests show few benefits from Game Mode. Image and data by PC Gamer.
Microsoft also discussed the limits on the Universal Windows Platform apps that are cleared for Xbox One. These applications must not use more than four cores, are limited to 1GB of memory, and 50% of the system’s GPU. That’s going to substantially limit the games that can run, but I suppose it also ensures developers don’t try to choke the Xbox One with more than it can chew. Hopefully we will see these limits rise over time, the same way MS has dedicated more of the Xbox One’s resources to games as the console has matured. We might also see Scorpio lift some of these restrictions, given its improved horsepower.
Microsoft’s Eric Walston, from the Xbox Advanced Technology Group, stated that the long-term goal is to bring the Xbox One and PC closer and closer together. “When we add new features to Windows, they transfer to Xbox,” he said. “[In 2017], the line between console and PC is continuing to blur,” Walston told Ars Technica. “The line dividing Windows and Xbox continues to become more of a gradient of features and functionality.”
Do PC players want Xbox features?
I suspect Walton’s remark won’t play well with PC enthusiasts who are extremely happy with what they already have. I think there’s a genuine argument for bringing certain Xbox features to the PC — I would love, for example, to be able to play some classic titles from the Xbox 360 era that never came to PC. So far, however, the Microsoft Store games have been distinctly underwhelming, with poor performance, missing features, limited mod support, and a host of other problems. I suspect most PC gamers aren’t taking advantage of these features because most PC gamers are pretty satisfied with their platform.
If Microsoft wants to bring the PC and Xbox ecosystems closer together, it needs a delivery system that’s flexible enough to serve the needs of both groups. Xbox cross-play and the ability to move a game session from a local Xbox to a streamed PC would be useful. I can also see an argument for reversing that ability and allowing the Xbox to stream utilities or media playback from a PC. It’s a niche option, to be sure, but it’s a good one.
Until the Windows Store and Xbox Live become more useful to those of us who game with mouse and keyboard, I don’t see much chance of compelling cross-over, but I’d love to be proven wrong.
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