How to Force a Game Built with Construct 3 and WebView2 to Use a Dedicated GPU?

Hello everyone,

I've been developing a game using Construct 3 and exporting it with WebView2. During extensive testing with a large player base, we've encountered an issue where some players' dedicated GPUs are not being utilized. Instead, the game runs solely on the integrated graphics, leading to less than optimal performance.

I'm seeking advice on how to ensure that the game specifically requests the use of high-performance graphics cards when available. This is crucial for providing the best possible experience to players, especially those with dual GPU setups (integrated and dedicated graphics).

Has anyone faced a similar challenge or can offer guidance on how to configure the game or the WebView2 settings to prefer or force the use of a dedicated GPU? Any insights or suggestions on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your help and support!

Dual-GPU systems commonly include system software that overrides the application's choice of GPU. There is nothing the application can do about this.

The only options you have are:

1. Instruct players to manually change their system settings to use the discrete GPU
2. Try and get in touch with NVIDIA/AMD/whoever else and get them to change their system settings to default your game to the discrete GPU. They usually do this for big titles, but don't set it for every game.

Then why is there a "GPU Preference" setting, what does it do?

It changes what the application asks the system for. Sometimes the system will comply with it, and so the setting does take effect, but sometimes the system will disregard what the application asks for and so the setting does not take effect.

Applications can't override system preferences. This has been a problem for years with dual-GPU laptops. If the system software does not apply the right preference, you'll need to contact the GPU manufacturer, as it's out of our hands.

IIRC there were some hacks you could use to try to force applications to use specific GPUs with some vendors, but I don't think they were ever officially documented, so we didn't implement them ourselves. You could give it a go, but it would be at your own risk.