Microsoft turns on promised gaming features for its Edge browser

Microsoft wants to make Edge known as the best browser for gaming. To do that, the company is adding a number of gaming-centric features to Edge for Windows PC users as of today, June 23.

Microsoft previewed these features, which are for gaming discovery and play, a couple of weeks ago during its “What’s Next for Gaming” set of announcements. Starting today, these features work on Edge on PCs. Before anyone asks, almost all of the new gaming features are off by default, other than Efficiency Mode, which can be turned off in the settings menu.

The new features available today:

• The Gaming homepage is personalized with news on upcoming and newly released games, live streams, and more. The page includes personalized Xbox content and access to their Xbox Cloud Gaming library for users who sign in with their Microsoft accounts.
• The new Games menu for Edge, which offers free-to-play casual and arcade games, plus one-click access to games like Microsoft Solitaire and other exclusive Edge games.
• Clarity Boost is designed to provide clearer graphics while gaming in Microsoft Edge on Windows. Microsoft officials said that clarity Boost also improves the visual experience of console games in Xbox Cloud Gaming.
• A new setting in Efficiency Mode, which officials said will reduce Edge resource usage whenever a PC game is launched. 

For more details on these features, see Microsoft’s blog post.