Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming

Windows 11 bringing new gaming features to PC players next month

By

PC gaming is about to change in a big (and hopefully positive) way. With Windows 11 launching on October 5, PC gamers will have a suite of new gaming features that can potentially make their games look better and load faster.

Windows 11 | The Best Windows Ever for Gaming

The biggest change that a large number of PC gamers will likely notice after they upgrade to Windows 11 is in how the OS will handle HDR (High Dynamic Range). The set of techniques, which let a monitor display a wider range of brightness, is a bit of a pain to handle on Windows 10 PCs at the moment. After turning HDR on, users were able to enjoy HDR-compatible content. However, standard dynamic range content looks strange on Windows 10, almost like it has a bad filter over it. Windows 11 solves this issue with Auto HDR, which, as its name implies, automatically adds HDR to SDR content seamlessly.

Recommended Videos

Windows 11 also borrows one of the Xbox Series X’s prime features, Direct Storage. With this feature, PCs that have an NVMe SSD will be able to load games faster by loading data directly onto a system’s GPU rather than its CPU. While Direct Storage on PCs hasn’t been properly tested yet, Microsoft has claimed that it will reduce overall CPU usage and improve system performance. For those who aren’t upgrading, Direct Storage will also be available on Windows 10.

Related

Naturally, Microsoft is also including its premier game subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, with Windows 11. While users will still have to pay for a Game Pass subscription, they should be able to access games with ease thanks to the Xbox App being built into Windows 11 itself.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Otto Kratky
Otto Kratky
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Otto Kratky is a freelance writer with many homes. You can find his work at Digital Trends, GameSpot, and Gamepur. If he's…
Microsoft Word may delete your files — here’s how to avoid it
Windows 11 logo on a laptop.

There's a new bug in Microsoft Word that may delete your files, and according to user reports, they're not always recoverable through the Recycle Bin. Fortunately, Microsoft is aware of the problem, but it's unclear when the issue might be fixed. If you want to make sure that your files stay safe, we've got a few workarounds to help you out.

In the last few days, the Microsoft community boards have been flooded with reports of people complaining about their files randomly being deleted, with one user saying: "I use Word. Today, it deleted eight hours of work." Further reports quickly made it clear that the affected files have a few things in common.

Read more
Windows 11 can now use AI to respond to your text messages
The Phone Link app being used on a phone and laptop screen.

Microsoft has started rolling out a helpful Suggested Replies feature in the Phone Link app that gives users AI-powered text suggestions for quick replies to their messages, the software giant stated in a Support blog post.

The new feature uses Microsoft's Cloud AI models to create short replies to specific messages, resulting in faster response times. It is rolling out in Phone Link version 1.24082.137.0 for Windows 11 24H2 and 23H2. You don't need to be in the Windows Insider Program to try out the feature, but you won't see the Suggest Replies feature on all messages. You'll only see the suggestions when the Phone Link's AI can understand the message.

Read more
2 critically acclaimed indies are coming to Game Pass this month
Sifu's main character at age 70 in Sifu.

Xbox is kicking off October with three new games coming to Game Pass, along with two from the Ultimate tier getting added to the Standard tier, the first time the company has had to make that distinction.

Inscryption and Sifu, two standout indie titles from 2021 and 2022, respectively, are absolutely worth checking out when they hit Game Pass this month. Sifu, coming on October 2, is a third-person beat 'em up with a twist: every time you die, you get resurrected as an older version of yourself. This brings some advantages, like new skills, but your health decreases. Sifu is less about defeating waves of enemies and more about improving as you go, becoming something of a kung fu master.

Read more