PC gamers using the Xbox app will be pleased to hear about a nifty new feature that will help them decide if they want to install a game by providing an estimate of how fast it is likely to run.
The clumsy name of ‘Game Performance Tuning Indicator’ provides a rating for any game based on how easily the title runs on PCs with a similar specification to yours.
As mentioned, this is just a prediction of how well the game might run, but it should be in the right stadium, and getting the green light that something ‘plays well on similar PCs’ is certainly useful information to have.
As noted in blog post (opens in new tab) (from Tila Nguyen, Senior Product Manager Lead, Xbox Experiences) introducing the new feature, it is starting to roll out to the Xbox app now, with the caveat that it will require a bit of data to make it more useful. For new games, of course, it will take some time before enough information about different gaming PCs and their performance is gathered to be able to provide a recommendation – and the system needs to find enough matches for your rig’s specs to be useful.
In other words, don’t expect too much, too quickly, from the Game’s Performance Tuning Indicator feature, and you might not see information related to it in every game – but eventually it will all filter out.
The Xbox App has also witnessed some changes to make it easier to find your next game to play, such as refining the search function to make it more accurate (and including EA Play and Ubisoft Connect games in search results).
Analysis: a real time saver
Compared to third-party tools that merely make comparisons to basic system requirements – or actually just looking at those requirements – this benchmark should give you a much clearer idea of how well a game is likely to run on your PC and should be of great help in determining whether said game is worth downloading and installing.
After all, if a game is a heavy download, diverting it because you find it will perform slowly can save you a lot of time and trouble. Not to mention avoiding unnecessary wear and tear on your SSD, maybe to play for five minutes before getting frustrated with the performance and uninstalling the thing.
