Detailed explanation of Win10's new game mode: How much can it improve gaming?

Everyone says that Windows 10 will be the "last generation" of Windows. Microsoft's change in strategy has turned this long-standing system into a service-oriented one, which means that in the future, it will no longer be updated with major system version changes, but will be pushed through the network to bring a series of updates more frequently, gradually allowing the system to upgrade with the development of technology. The Windows 10 Creators that we are about to welcome this year is such an important upgrade.

It is difficult to summarize the content of Windows 10 Creators Update, because every year's major update involves all aspects of the system experience. But in general, this upgrade is just as its name suggests, focusing more on "creators" and adding many things related to creative design. Of course, there are improvements that are closely related to ordinary users. For Chinese users, the most noteworthy is the major change in the Pinyin input method. The updated Pinyin input method will be closer to those mature third-party input methods in terms of function.

However, if we only talk about players, then the most anticipated and confusing thing about this update is the so-called "Game Mode". It is very simple to understand literally, that is, a mode dedicated to playing games, but what will this mode bring us? Microsoft did not explain it very clearly. However, it is impossible for everyone to expect that the game mode can instantly make every Windows 10 computer have hardcore performance, and it would be nice if the frame rate could be improved a little bit - so how much can it be improved?

Microsoft's explanation

Fortunately, Microsoft did not keep its mouth shut. After all, it would be bad if it was too mysterious and caused players to have unrealistic expectations. Kevin Gammil, the departmental project manager for the Xbox platform, recently came out and explained a little about what the game mode is.

Simply put, when the game mode is activated, the system will allocate more CPU and GPU resources to the game program, making the latter more stable, more unified, and more predictable in terms of frame rate and performance than before. Microsoft's biggest goal is to make Windows 10 the "most suitable operating system for games."

Based on this description, we can perhaps understand that Microsoft wants to make PC games more like game consoles. As we all know, the hardware of game consoles is fixed and almost only built for running games, which allows developers to have a more accurate expectation of the performance of console games because they can clearly understand everything they can access.

Interestingly, although the game mode seems to be a icing on the cake that Microsoft came up with on a whim, the software giant is much more serious than many people think. The game mode we are about to usher in is likely to be just the first generation, and it may continue to evolve in the future.

Gammill later explained further: In game mode, all background tasks that are not related to the game and are not necessary will be suspended or postponed. Next, the system will adjust the processor priority to avoid the performance impact of multitasking on the game. However, we still don't have too much expectations, because Gammill admitted that under the existing CPU and GPU framework, the frame rate improvement brought by game mode is only 2% to 5%.

However, it is worth mentioning that the game mode not only supports Microsoft's new UWP universal Windows platform, but also traditional Win32 games. The Microsoft employee said that both types of games can benefit from the game mode, but UWP games will get a higher improvement.

However, Gammill warned that Win32 games may not have only one process, and some of them may need to run game launchers or anti-piracy protection, and these background services will also be suspended in game mode, so Win32 game programs may not be well optimized in game mode. Of course, UWP games sold through the Windows Store do not have this problem.

In terms of details, the game mode after Windows 10 Creators Update will come with a whitelist of supported games, and the mode will automatically start when running these games. Just like the graphics card driver update, the game mode game support list will also be updated regularly. It is very convenient to enter and exit this mode, just press the Win+G key combination.

Big goals

As we mentioned above, Microsoft's move is likely to create a console-like environment for PCs. For developers, the Windows PC environment is extremely complex. Not only are there many types of hardware, but the system operating environment is also very complex, and it is difficult to predict its performance. Through the game mode, Microsoft may be able to allow the system to enter a console-like environment when running games, which allows developers to at least optimize it.

Of course, some people will ask, with a maximum frame rate increase of only 5%, why would players care so much? Here we have to talk about another benefit Microsoft has given to players, DirectX12. One of the biggest selling points of DirectX12 is that it provides developers with a lower-level API, which is closer to the console development model. Game mode and DirectX12 complement each other, and perhaps the performance of future PC games will be greatly improved in the new environment.

In the Windows 10 era, Microsoft has paid more attention to the trends of gamers than ever before. Both DirectX12 and Game Mode are the killer features that attract gamers to leave Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 and join the Windows 10 camp.

However, these two tricks have not yet seen results, and games that support DirectX12 are still scarce. Microsoft is not in a hurry about this. After all, as time goes by, people will eventually slowly update from the old version to the new version. As the number of users gradually increases, more and more developers will use the new features of Windows 10 to provide new experiences. Unable to withstand the temptation of a better experience, players will surely speed up the migration.

Of course, this is all based on the fact that the future gaming experience on Windows 10 is really awesome. We can only wait and see.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.