Windows 10 Game Mode Explained Further, Launches For Windows Insiders This Week

We should know soon how much of a difference Game Mode makes.

Earlier this month, Microsoft confirmed a new Windows 10 feature meant to improve performance when playing games is on the way. Microsoft is now set to begin public testing of Game Mode to Windows Insiders this week.

A select group of Windows Insiders will receive Game Mode as part of a Windows 10 update sometime "later this week," according to a tweet from Microsoft's Larry Hryb. The video below provides some further insight into exactly what it does and how it's turned on.

"We're targeting performance enhancements in two ways," Microsoft explains in the video. "One, an increase in overall framerate, or peaks, and two, an increase in average framerates, or consistency."

This update adds a section devoted to gaming in the system settings. From there, you can enable Game Mode. Then, you can bring up the Game Bar while in-game to access the settings menu and ensure Game Mode is turned on. "Once you press Game Mode, the system will work to prioritize CPU and GPU resources to your game running in the foreground," it says. Microsoft intends to test automatically enabling Game Mode with some games; Forza Horizon 3 is presumably one of these, as it's a Microsoft-developed game featured in the video.

Game Mode is intended to work with all Win32 games, and not just Universal Windows Platform games released through the Windows Store. However, Microsoft warns that "it's possible not every game will work with Game Mode right now."

We still don't have a firm grasp on how meaningful the performance gains will be with Game Mode enabled. It seems unlikely to result in major improvements, but we should have a better idea as people start to get their hands on it over the next few days.

Game Mode will be released to all Windows 10 users sometime this spring, when Microsoft releases the Creators Update. Also coming as part of the update, and the preview version arriving this week, is integrated streaming through Microsoft's Beam service.

This story has been updated with new information about when the update arrives for Insiders.