GeForce Now (stylized as GeForce NOW) is the brand used by Nvidia for its cloud gaming service. Nvidia Grid, Nvidia's cloud gaming service for Nvidia Shield devices, launched in 2013.
In January 2017, Nvidia unveiled GeForce Now clients for Windows and Mac computers, available in North America and Europe as a free beta.
The service exited Beta and launched to the general public on February 4, 2020.
Features
GeForce Now consists of a network of servers based in data centers across
North America,
Europe,
Asia,
Australia,
South America, the
Middle East, and
Africa, that host and serve the GeForce Now game library to members in over 100 countries.
Streaming technology
The service uses AV1 encoding on newer server generations, providing approximately 40% bitrate savings compared to H.264 at similar quality levels.
HEVC and H.264 remain available for devices without AV1 decoding hardware, with adaptive bitrate streaming scaling quality based on available bandwidth. Cinematic Quality Streaming (CQS) features
YUV , 10-bit HDR support, AI-powered HUD sharpness filters, and maximum bitrates up to 100 Mbit/s.
Multi-Frame Generation support can generate up to three additional frames per rendered frame in supported titles.
Subscription tiers
GeForce Now offers three primary subscription tiers plus legacy plans.
Free tier
The Free tier provides 1-hour gaming sessions with ad-supported waiting periods and the longest queue times. Streaming is limited to 1080p/60fps on servers with 4 vCPU cores, 14GB RAM, and GeForce RTX 3050-class hardware (6GB VRAM). Only Ready-to-Play games (over 2,000 titles) are accessible; Install-to-Play is not available.
Performance tier
The Performance tier (renamed from "Priority" in November 2024) costs $9.99/month or $99.99/year, offering 6-hour gaming sessions with no ads and priority queue access. Streaming supports up to 1440p/60fps on servers with 8 vCPU cores, 28GB RAM, and GeForce RTX 3060-class hardware (12GB VRAM). Features include ray tracing, HDR, and 5.1 surround audio. Both Ready-to-Play and Install-to-Play games are accessible (over 4,000 titles).
Ultimate tier
The Ultimate tier costs $19.99/month or $199.99/year and provides 8-hour gaming sessions with no ads and priority queue access. Members have access to RTX 4080-class servers (16 vCPU cores, 56GB RAM, 24GB VRAM) by default, with RTX 5080-class servers (56GB RAM, 48GB VRAM) automatically assigned for select optimized games.
RTX 4080 servers support up to 4K resolution or up to 240fps, while RTX 5080 servers support up to 5K resolution at 120fps, or up to 360fps at 1080p with sub-30 millisecond click-to-pixel latency.
Features include ray tracing, HDR, 7.1 surround audio, DLSS 3 Frame Generation, NVIDIA Reflex, and Cloud G-Sync. Both Ready-to-Play and Install-to-Play games are accessible (over 4,000 titles).
Day passes
Day passes offer 24-hour access to upgraded tiers at $3.99 (Performance) and $7.99 (Ultimate).
Playtime caps
As of January 1, 2026, all non-Founders paid subscribers face a 100-hour monthly playtime cap, which Nvidia stated affects approximately 6% of users.
Additional 15-hour blocks can be purchased at $2.99 (Performance) or $5.99 (Ultimate), with up to 15 unused hours rolling over monthly. Legacy Founders members who subscribed on or before March 17, 2021 retain their introductory $4.99/month rate and are exempt from monthly playtime caps.
Library
As of late 2025, GeForce NOW supports over 4,500 games through two access methods.
"Ready-to-Play" games are titles that NVIDIA has pre-tested and optimized for streaming, available to all tiers including Free members. "Install-to-Play" games are additional Steam titles that users can install on-demand from their own libraries, available only to Performance and Ultimate subscribers.
Bring your own games model
GeForce Now operates on a "bring your own games" model, where users sign into their existing digital distribution accounts (Steam, Epic Games Store,
Ubisoft Connect,
EA app, GOG.com, Battle.net, Xbox PC Game Pass) to play games they already own. For example, if a user wants to play
Fortnite on a device, it would be free as the game itself is free to play, but to play
Cyberpunk 2077, the user would need to sign into a Steam or Epic Games Store account that owns that game.
Install-to-Play
Announced at
Gamescom 2025, the Install-to-Play feature provides Ultimate and Performance members with 100GB of cache storage to install Steam games whose publishers have opted into Steam Cloud Play.
This cache is cleared at the end of each session, requiring games to be reinstalled when starting a new session (though installation is typically fast due to the high-speed server infrastructure). This effectively doubled the accessible library from approximately 2,300 pre-tested titles to over 4,500 games. Persistent storage that survives between sessions is available via subscription add-ons (200GB/$2.99, 500GB/$4.99, 1TB/$7.99 monthly).
Publisher partnerships
Nvidia has been involved in a number of licensing rights disputes related to games on the service, especially in February and March 2020, when the service transitioned from its beta stage to its general release. Activision Blizzard pulled all their games from the service in February 2020, citing a "misunderstanding" on the terms.
Bethesda pulled the majority of its games shortly afterward.
The developers of
The Long Dark said that their game was improperly placed on the service without any sort of licensing agreement; Nvidia agreed to remove that game as well.
In the beginning of March 2020, 2K Games also pulled their products from the service.
Nvidia announced in May 2020 that they would change their approach to have developers and publishers require their games to be opted into use for the library on the GeForce Now service, starting in June 2020, though this will be a free service offered to these companies.
On September 30, 2021, GeForce Now announced that Electronic Arts games, including Battlefield, Mirror's Edge Catalyst, Unravel, and Dragon Age franchises, are available to play in the cloud.
In February 2023, Microsoft (which operated Xbox Cloud Gaming) announced a 10-year agreement to bring its Xbox PC games to Nvidia's GeForce Now cloud streaming service. Following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, Activision Blizzard's games were added to Nvidia's service, including titles such as Call of Duty, Diablo, and Overwatch.
Ubisoft remains a major partner, with full Ubisoft+ Premium integration.
Reception
GeForce Now has received generally positive reviews, particularly following upgrades to its server infrastructure. At launch in February 2020, reviewers favorably compared the service to rival
Google Stadia, with
Ars Technica calling it "a stunner" and asking "RIP Stadia?"
Following the September 2025 introduction of Blackwell RTX 5080 servers, PC Gamer noted that games felt indistinguishable from local play under optimal conditions, though 4K streaming with DLSS enabled exhibited some lag.
Criticism
The service has faced criticism on several fronts. The announcement of 100-hour monthly playtime caps for non-Founders members, effective January 2026, drew negative reactions from subscribers, particularly those who play MMORPGs or other time-intensive games.
Some reviewers have noted that the Free tier is "nearly unusable" due to long queue times and advertisements.
The game library remains incomplete due to the opt-in publisher model, with notable absences including Rockstar Games titles such as Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2, as well as Elden Ring from FromSoftware. First-person shooters and other latency-sensitive games can still feel sluggish compared to local play for users without optimal network conditions.
Supported platforms
Desktop
GeForce Now supports Windows 10 and later (64-bit),
macOS 10.15 and later, and
ChromeOS. A native
Linux client for
Ubuntu 24.04 and later entered beta in January 2026.
Browser-based streaming via
Google Chrome,
Microsoft Edge, Safari, and
Opera GX supports up to 1440p/120fps through
play.geforcenow.com.
Mobile
The native
Android app supports up to 1600p/120fps streaming on Ultimate tier, but does not support HDR.
and
iPadOS have no official native app due to Apple App Store restrictions on cloud gaming services;
instead, access is available via Safari PWA, limited to 1080p/60fps with gamepad-only input.
Third-party web browsers such as
CloudGear are available on iOS that overcome Safari's limitations, enabling features such as 5K resolution, 120fps, HDR, mouse pointer lock, and controller rumble — bringing the iOS experience closer to parity with desktop clients.
Smart TVs and streaming devices
The service is available on
Samsung TVs (2020–2025 models via Samsung Gaming Hub),
LG Electronics TVs (2020–2025
webOS models, with 4K/120fps on 2022+ OLED models),
Android TV/
Sony TVs, and Nvidia Shield TV.
Amazon Fire TV support (Fire TV Stick 4K Plus/Max 2nd Gen) was announced at CES 2026 for release in early 2026.
Gaming handhelds
Steam Deck gained a native app in 2025 supporting up to 90fps in handheld mode, or up to 4K/60fps when connected to an external display.
Other supported handhelds include Asus ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, MSI Claw,
Razer Edge, and Logitech G Cloud.
VR and MR headsets
VR/MR headset support launched at CES 2025, enabling 2D cinema-mode streaming at 4K/60fps on Apple Vision Pro,
Meta Quest 2/Pro/3/3S, and
Pico Interactive 4/4 Ultra via browser.
Controllers
Racing wheel support (Logitech G29/G920/G923) is available on Windows and macOS.
flight controls (
Thrustmaster/Logitech) were announced at CES 2026.
Global distribution and alliance partners
Nvidia's GeForce Now game streaming service leverages a network of alliance partners to expand its reach and make cloud gaming accessible to users around the globe. These partners operate the service in their respective regions, tailoring offerings based on local market dynamics. The service is available in over 100 countries through direct operations and alliance partnerships.
Nvidia-operated regions
Nvidia directly operates datacenters serving North America (United States, Canada, Mexico), Western and Northern Europe (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries), Eastern Europe (Poland, Balkans, Baltics), and Japan.
Alliance partners
As of January 2026, the following Alliance partners operate GeForce NOW in their respective regions.
Alliance partners set their own pricing and subscription tiers, which often differ from those offered by NVIDIA's first-party service.
Asia-Pacific
-
GFN.CO.KR: South Korea
-
AU: Japan
-
Taiwan Mobile: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines
-
StarHub: Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam
-
Yes: Malaysia
-
Cloud.GG: Australia, New Zealand
Europe and Central Asia
-
GFN.AM: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
-
GAME+: Turkey, Cyprus
Middle East and Africa
-
Zain: Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia
-
Rain: South Africa
Latin America
-
ABYA: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay
-
Digevo: Chile, Colombia
Planned expansions
Nvidia announced plans to launch its first directly-operated datacenter in India in the first half of 2025, marking its first direct operation outside established North America, Europe, and Japan regions.
See also
