The Windows 10 Creators Update introduces a new feature called Game Mode. At a basic level, Game Mode adjusts your PC so that the CPU and GPU prioritize your game over regular background tasks and apps found in typical Windows 10 settings. In theory, this should lead to better gaming performance by preventing other background processes from entering your computer’s resources as you play.
As a new feature, Game Mode is not perfect, and Microsoft is committed to developing and refining how it works and interacts with different games, UWP games from the Windows Store, and games. Play Win32 from platforms like Steam, Origin, and GOG. This means you shouldn’t expect significant performance with Game Mode enabled, but it can help improve game performance consistency in Windows 10.
Turn on “Game Mode” in Windows 10
While the Game mode is offered as part of the Windows 10 Creators Update, it’s not enabled by default. To enable the gaming mode and see how it affects the gaming performance of your personal computer, first, make sure that you’re running at least Windows 10 Creator Update, build 1703. Next, launch the Settings app from the Windows 10 Start Menu and select Gaming.
Support better gameplay with Game Mode Windows 10
In the Game Settings window, select Game Mode from the sidebar on the left. On the right side, you will see an option labeled Use Game Mode. Click the On / Turn off button to turn the Game Mode on.
Turn on “Game Mode” game mode for a specific game
The above steps turn Game Mode on the whole system. If you only want to enable Game Mode for specific games, you can do this via the Windows 10 Game Bar.
Just launch your desired game and press Windows Key + G. This brings up the Game Bar, allowing you to access features like game recording and streaming. Click the gear icon to open settings and then check the box labeled Use Game Mode for this game.
With Game Mode activated, just run your games as you normally would. In theory, you should see a slightly better or more consistent performance. However, as mentioned earlier, Game Mode is a new feature still in development, and Microsoft will continue to develop and refine how it works. As a result, you won’t see the performance in every game or with every hardware configuration, and you may even see instances where the version drops with Game Mode enabled. In this case, you can always go back to Settings> Gaming> Game Mode and disable the feature until Microsoft improves compatibility with your favorite games.
