Nvidia has now fully launched its streaming service GeForce Now which has been in beta for a while, and it looks like it is aiming to compete with the likes of Google Stadia. The GeForce Now service is not linked to a single store but is an open platform so you can link in your Steam, Epic, Uplay, and Battle.net accounts, for example, and stream the games you own on your devices. The devices GeForce Now supports include laptops, Macs, PCs, TVs, and Android devices, with the service giving 60fps+ streams. Chromebooks will be added later this year, but no word yet on iPhones and iPads. Every game will be patched in the cloud so the latest build should be instantly accessible.
So, is there a catch you ask? Well, kind of. There are two membership tiers available with those being the free account and the premium Founders account. The free account gives you standard access to the servers but gaming sessions can only last for one hour at a time. The number of sessions is not limited but there will likely be some kind of waiting period where you wait in a queue to access the servers again. The Founders account will cost $4.99 a month and priority access in the queues, sessions that last up to six hours, and ray tracing, aka RTX On, in all supported titles. There is also a 90 day introductory period for a Founders account where you don’t pay the subscription fee.
How does Nvidia GeForce Now compare to Google Stadia then?
GeForce Now
- Free account offers unlimited one hour gaming sessions, but need to queue.
- 60+ fps across the board. Capped at 1080p.
- Premium account offers priority queues, six hour sessions, RTX On at $4.99
- Links to different stores including Steam, Epic, Uplay giving access to thousands of games.
- Support on TV, Android phones, Macs, PCs, laptops. Chromebook support coming soon.
Google Stadia
- Currently only Premium edition available.
- Requires Google Chromecast Ultra and Stadia for TV
- Currently only works on Google Pixel phones.
- On PC requires Google Chrome browser.
- Closed platform with only Stadia store titles compatible.
- Advertise to offer up to 60fps at 4K.
So, if you put each service next to each other right now GeForce Now appears to be the stronger streaming service.
Source: Nvidia
MrYd
I had a quick go last night with the free version.
It works well, but it seems to be unnecessarily complicated to launch a game. Launch the GeForce Now client. Pick a game in your Steam library. Steam launches inside the streaming client. Try and remember Steam password. Get it wrong. Try again and get the right one. Then grab your phone and get the 2FA code. Then find the game in your Steam library. Game needs to install for some reason (which is pretty much instant). Then finally launch the game.
Runs quite well. Possibly runs better if your haven’t got a PS4 that decides it’s the perfect time to download massive updates at the same time. There was a slight wait while I was in a queue though. But I was 14th in the queue and it only took a couple of seconds. Don’t know if that will get worse or better over time.
So they’ve killed Google Stadia before it even properly launches. Well done.