Cloud gaming is either the future of gaming or an annoying fad that is destined to die out, depending on who you ask. Personally, I’ve already had plenty of good experiences with cloud gaming, so when I was asked to do this Nvidia GeForce NOW review, I jumped at the chance. This is, arguably, the best version of cloud gaming going. A service with an ad-supported free tier that simply gives you access to your already existing library of games, and it cuts out the need for game subscriptions or long wait-times for installations. Does it hold up to that particular dream? Let’s see what we learned over our weeks with the service.
What Is GeForce NOW?
If you’ve not already heard of it, Nvidia’s GeForce NOW is a cloud-gaming service that allows you to access (some of) your already owned games across Steam, GoG and The Epic Game Store. It comes in three tiers: Free, Performance, and Ultimate, all offering different benefits and levels of power to the rigs you’re playing on. Ultimate, the final and most expensive tier, offers full RTX, DLSS 4 support, up to 5k resolution and at least an RTX 4080 behind each rig, offering you quite a high level of fidelity to the games you’ll be playing.
The other major advantage of the service is a lack of wait times for updates or downloads. If you decide you want to play The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, you don’t have to chew through 113GB to do it. Any given game is already installed and waiting to be played the second you have the itch to play something. Now, if you’re on either of the bottom two tiers, there’s a chance you’ll have to queue to get into the game, but even on free, the wait is only a few minutes rather than the 30+ major updates or installs it can take.
Serious Performance on Some of the Internet of All Time
If you’re familiar with cloud gaming, you’d probably expect a service like GeForce NOW to require a powerful internet connection, but you’d be wrong about that. Even on my mediocre British Wi-Fi (no fibre, maximum 60/70 Mbps), it’s possible to play a lot of the most high-fidelity games in my library without issues, or at the least with very few drop-outs. Admittedly, the results do vary a bit depending on when you’re playing and on what tier you’re getting.
While I was using the free tier for a few weeks, I played plenty of really clear sessions with only minor drops in frames or brief minor packet loss. However, I did also get plenty of sessions (typically during peak times) where I had to give up and come back later to actually play stuff. In fairness to the service, this was especially common during online multiplayer games like Fallout 76 or CoD, but it did happen during other games too. That said, most of the stuttering went away on the ultimate plan, so server priority really matters here.
Gaming, Wherever
It’s fair to say that GeForce NOW offers you a huge variety of new places to enjoy your games. For one, the GeForce NOW app works great on almost any smartphone capable of installing it. Another huge factor is the browser app. While you will get a warning that installing on Desktop is better, if you’re playing on a low-end piece of hardware, you can still easily enjoy high-end gaming. I’ve ran the app on a local library PC and on some old laptops with the same experience of a fantastic and smooth connection that wouldn’t have been possible on the hardware I was actually using.
Obviously, your mileage may vary. The two things that GeForce NOW does need is a working device and a decent-ish internet connection. While your local library might have one or the other of those, it’s not always guaranteed to have both. These days, you might even be better off sticking to your phone and using mobile data when you’re out and about, especially if you have a phone controller to hand. Just make sure your data plan can handle it.
Not All Gravy, Baby
Obviously, GeForce NOW isn’t without its drawbacks. For all of my talk about smooth gameplay and lack of stuttering, those moments do crop up even on a more expensive package. If you’re the type of gamer who absolutely demands perfect performance at every moment that you’re gaming, then this probably isn’t going to be for you. If you don’t mind the occasional stutter, then you’ll probably get along just fine, but that leaves us with the next barrier: the cost.
For an ultimate subscription in the UK, it currently costs 20GBP a month. This does give you access to a high-level of graphical fidelity, almost no wait times, and a bunch of other slick features, but it’s still 20 quid without providing any games for you to play. Obviously, the service isn’t designed for someone who doesn’t already have a Steam library, but if your current rig is getting a bit long in the tooth, and you can’t afford the mortgage for new RAM or GPU upgrades, then at least the performance tier is available for a much more reasonable £10 a month.
The Final Word
I’m not sure what sort of mystical sorcery the folks at Nvidia have performed, but GeForce NOW has worked like a dream for most of my time with it. The graphical options available on the highest tier are something to behold, especially if you’re limited by your out-of-date rig, and the flexibility between tiers means you can always be sure of finding something worth your while. It’s easy to baulk at the high cost, but for a premium service like the one being offered, it’s not a shock that you can expect to pay a premium price, and frankly, that’s what the Performance and Free tiers are for!
