NVIDIA's entry into the streaming wars is seeing some impressive success and substantial challenges.
As companies compete and server technology improves, streaming games is becoming more and more of a viable option. Everything from using some of the best gaming phones to your laptop as a great gaming machine is now an option for players.
One recent major entrant is NVIDIA GeForce Now, a streaming service for PC games that players already own. Over a million players have tried it out so far. While some publishers are choosing not to support this streaming platform, it's still a big contender and a clearly viable option for games streaming, right on par with the likes of Google Stadia and Xbox Game Pass.
What is GeForce Now?
GeForce Now is NVIDIA's streaming service. Unlike platforms like Stadia, it does not require buying games over again or choosing from a select library to stream from. Instead, players simply stream the PC games that they own on different storefronts, including Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Uplay.
Since the games are being streamed from NVIDIA hardware, this means that players can try out advanced graphics features, like 4K HDR or ray-tracing — features that would otherwise cost quite a bit to get running on native hardware — on lesser platforms. You can use the service on other PCs and Macs, NVIDIA Shield devices, mobile devices, and more.
GeForce Now: List of supported devices
GeForce Now is compatible with PC, Mac and Android. On PC and Mac, your device will need to meet certain baseline requirements, or you can simply go for the NVIDIA Shield device.
You can find the full list of technical requirements right here
Is GeForce Now free?
There is a free tier of GeForce Now, which allows you to play in one-hour sessions. The paid tier is $5 a month and includes higher priority access to start playing, as well as extended sessions that aren't limited to one hour. These options are known as the Free and Founder's versions, respectively.
| Free | Founders Membership | |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Standard | Priority |
| Playtime | One hour | Extended length |
| RTX | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Free trial | No | Free for 90 days |
| Price | Free | $4.99/month for one year |
Is GeForce Now still in beta?
No, while it was in beta testing for several years, the streaming service exited beta testing back on Feb. 4, 2020. Since then, over one million players have tried out GeForce Now, per NVIDIA.
GeForce Now list of games
NVIDIA has faced some difficulties with GeForce Now, as not all games are being supported. Most notably, Activision Blizzard has removed all of its games from the service, while Bethesda Softworks has removed all but one — Wolfenstein: Youngblood. Meanwhile, CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 has been on the service since launch. You can see the full list of games currently supported on NVIDIA's website.
Start streaming
GeForce Now
NVIDIA's cloud game streaming service is one of the best available today, delivering lag-free gaming at 1080p/60 FPS. The best part about the service is that you don't need a high-end machine to run it, so there's a good chance you're already set. The $5 monthly plan also makes it an immediately enticing option for seasoned gamers.
PC Game Streaming
NVIDIA Shield Android TV Pro
4K HDR through streaming
The latest version of NVIDIA SHIELD TV gaming edition is the perfect hub for streaming your PC gaming — with 4K HDR RTX quality kept intact.
Source: androidcentral