Not even a month since its full launch, and GeForce Now has lost a second game publishing partner, as Bethesda’s games join Activision Blizzard’s in being removed from the game streaming platform.
Games like Skyrim, Dishonored, the Fallout franchise and Wolfenstein games have all already been removed, with one exception to the rule being Wolfenstein: Youngblood. Given that Youngblood released less than a year ago, it’s possible that there’s some quirk to the original agreement Bethesda and Nvidia signed keeping it on the service. It is also a game that features Nvidia’s ray tracing RTX technology, which could be another factor.
An announcement via the GeForce forum quite plainly states:
Please be advised most Bethesda Softworks titles will be removed from the GeForce NOW service today. Wolfenstein Youngblood will remain for all members. Founders members can continue to experience the game with RTX On.
The full list of games being removes is:
- Dishonored
- Dishonored 2
- Dishonored: Death of the Outsider
- Doom
- Everspace
- Fallout 3
- Fallout 76
- Fallout: New Vegas
- Prey
- Quake Champions
- Rage 2 (Bethesda.net / Steam)
- The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
- The Evil Within 2
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
- Wolfenstein: The New Order
- Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
GeForce Now general manager Phil Eisler recently said:
As we approach a paid service, some publishers may choose to remove games before the trial period ends. Ultimately, they maintain control over their content and decide whether the game you purchase includes streaming on GeForce NOW. Meanwhile, others will bring games back as they continue to realize GeForce NOW’s value.
Clearly some publishers are preferring to take their games away from a platform that offers a service for effectively nothing. Though there is a paid tier with improved graphics and longer play periods, a free account gives you access to Nvidia’s streaming servers and hooks into your various PC game libraries to offer you game streaming of any compatible games that you already own. The paid tier costs just $4.99 as well, which is far cheaper than Google Stadia Pro.
How will Nvidia tempt these publishers to return to their streaming platform? We’ll have to wait and see, but if this turns into a major trend, it could start to diminish one of the most appealing examples of game streaming yet.
MrYd
Could it be they’re waiting to see how successful it all is?
If it’s a big success, they might decide it’s worth doing their own subscription service. Removing the games then just so they can put them on their own service probably doesn’t look great.
If it’s not, or they come to the conclusion that nobody wants to pay for a dozen different services, they might just put them back. Make a big deal of their games now being available and they get extra publicity and some more sales on Steam from the half a dozen people that own less than 3 copies of Skyrim already.