Well, it looks like they've finally confirmed it, according to Softpedia:
Microsoft has officially acknowledged that it’s working on a gaming mode for Windows 10 that would have the operating system prioritize resource allocation for certain processes, while putting less critical ones in standby mode to improve gaming performance.
The recently-released Windows 10 build 15007 came with an early implementation of the so-called Game Mode, but just we told you yesterday, it doesn’t do much at the moment.
After the company remained tight-lipped on its efforts to launch a game mode, a post on the Xbox blog this morning set things straight and officially confirms that such a feature is in the works.
“Our goal is to make Windows 10 the best Windows ever for gaming. With the Creators Update, we’re introducing a new feature called Game Mode,” Microsoft says.
“Windows Insiders will start seeing some of the visual elements for Game Mode this week, with the feature being fully operational in builds shortly thereafter. Our vision is for Game Mode to optimize your Windows 10 PC for increased performance in gaming. This is a big update for Windows; we’re looking forward to Insiders getting their hands on this new feature for further testing, and we’ll have much more to share on what it is and how it works soon, so stayed tuned.”
So, what does this really mean for gamers?
Seriously, I'll bet money on this: Game Mode will optimize for UWP only, and not be accessible for normal executables like you get from, e.g., Steam. Since UWP games currently perform worse than their Steam (or Origin, or BNet, or UPlay, or GOG) counterparts pretty much across the board, this won't mean boosted performance for games in Windows 10 so much as long-overdue parity between native UWP games and games bought from other platforms.
You can expect this to make little difference, if any, to how PC gamers buy their games.
It might help sales of Microsoft titles launched on Windows 10, but since it won't affect Steam games at all, don't expect gamers to abandon Steam for the Windows 10 Store for their game purchases. Microsoft dropped the ball when it came to the UWP gaming experience, resulting in bad experiences for most of the native UWP titles released to date, from missing functionality and sub-par performance in games like Quantum Break to miserable sales and resulting non-functional multiplayer in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. That bad taste won't be going away anytime soon.
Since Game Mode isn't going to improve Steam users' gaming experience with the Steam games they already own and play, most of them probably won't even notice the difference. And since most of those same users are already thoroughly turned off the Windows 10 store already after a number of sub-par or outright terrible game purchasing experiences, I'm not expecting them to stampede to the Windows 10 Store in order to buy native UWP games with which to test Windows 10's new Mode.
Since Game Mode isn't going to improve Steam users' gaming experience with the Steam games they already own and play, most of them probably won't even notice the difference. And since most of those same users are already thoroughly turned off the Windows 10 store already after a number of sub-par or outright terrible game purchasing experiences, I'm not expecting them to stampede to the Windows 10 Store in order to buy native UWP games with which to test Windows 10's new Mode.
Don't expect developers to start developing native UWP versions of games.
With gamers reluctant to drop cash on native UWP versions of new games, developers will have little, if any, incentive to spend extra money making and optimizing native UWP ports of their titles. It's much easier and cheaper to use the Centennial Bridge to simply put a UWP wrapper around a Windows 7/8 executable in order to get it on the Windows 10 store front; and since Game Mode isn't going to optimize performance for anything except native UWP games (seriously, count on it), games ported over via the Bridge won't benefit.
This was part of Microsoft's UWP strategy, remember: the extra cost of developing native-UWP software was supposed to combine with the year-long free giveaway of Windows 10 to push developers into developing native UWP games at the expense of Windows 7/8 (i.e. Steam) versions, making the UWP marketplace larger and thus more attractive to developers wanting to maximize profit while minimizing costs. Bur Windows 10 Mobile was a big part of that, and subsequently failed to happen, while GWX turned Windows 7 & 8 users off completely, meaning that UWP only reaches 25% of the PC market, and isn't actually a better bet than just releasing a normal executable.
Add in UWP's gaming-specific issues, and you get a failure to launch in spite of Windows 10's remarkable penetration of the Steam user base (well above its share of the PC market as a whole), and a pretty clear sign of how badly Microsoft have fucked this up. Most Steam users are using Windows 10, but very few of them seem to be using the Windows 10 Store for their gaming purchases, and even those few are only using Microsoft's storefront to buy Microsoft-published games. The only developers who aren't going to Steam, i.e. where the players are, are those who are trying to push players to their own, competing, storefronts; EA is unlikely to promote Microsoft's walled Windows 10 garden over their own Origin service.
Bottom line:
Unless Microsoft make Game Mode optimization available to non-UWP games, don't expect Game Mode to have much of an impact on the games you play, or the way you buy games in future. That makes Game Mode a nothingburger -- a weaksauce feature that Microsoft is bringing to the table a good year and a half too late to make any difference.
Of course, it may just kill non-UWP game streaming at the same time, if it undermines all background applications in favour of the game in the foreground, so I'm still not completely sold, but I'm now a little more interested in what the details will ultimately end up being. Because the devil is in the details, and Microsoft have a long history of failing at the details of PC gaming, going all the way back to Games for Windows Live.
Other reasons not to get too excited about Game Mode being enabled for Win32 games:
Your move, Microsoft. You've disappointed me over and over again for the last two years, so my expectations are pretty low, here. Time to impress me, and other users and gamers like me.
UPDATE:
It might be a good thing that nobody took me up on that bet, because Microsoft are now saying that Game Mode will work with both Win32 and UWP games, at least according to Racing Junky:Microsoft just revealed everything identified with gaming that is expected with the Creators Update. They began with the rumored Windows 10 Game Mode. Mike Ybarra, Head of Platform Engineering for Xbox, affirmed that Game Mode will be accessible for both Win32 and UWP games.
Mike Ybarra likewise said that upgrades to the Windows Store, still disliked by numerous gamers, are accompanying this release and others later on. As per the blog entry, Windows Insiders will begin seeing the principal visual components (likely UI related) of Game Mode in an upgrade coming soon. Furthermore, the element will turn out to be completely operational in consequent forms. It will likely improve execution while gaming. Microsoft didn’t give more subtle hints on how it intends to accomplish that objective. Be that as it may, they said all of it will be talked about soon.Whether Microsoft can still convince gamers to ditch Steam for the Windows 10 Store remains to be seen (although I think it's unlikely), but the UWP gaming experience certainly needs a lot of work, and if Game Mode improves the experience for Steam &c. gamers as well, then it might have more of an impact than I'm expecting.
Of course, it may just kill non-UWP game streaming at the same time, if it undermines all background applications in favour of the game in the foreground, so I'm still not completely sold, but I'm now a little more interested in what the details will ultimately end up being. Because the devil is in the details, and Microsoft have a long history of failing at the details of PC gaming, going all the way back to Games for Windows Live.
Other reasons not to get too excited about Game Mode being enabled for Win32 games:
- Win32 might only mean XBox 360 backwards-compatible titles through Play Anywhere, and not 64-bit Windows 7 & 8 titles through Steam; in order to include current-gen Steam titles, Game Mode will also need to apply to Win64;
- I've been unable to find a 2nd source quoting Mike Ybarra's supposed confirmation of Win32's inclusion in Game Mode;
- Mike Ybarra is the head of platform engineering for XBox, and not directly responsible for PC;
- The Game Mode feature is still under development, so many of its details are still To Be Determined.
Your move, Microsoft. You've disappointed me over and over again for the last two years, so my expectations are pretty low, here. Time to impress me, and other users and gamers like me.