Nvidia introduced GeForce Now as a beta service in early 2017. The cloud gaming service allows users to stream and play games from the cloud on various devices, including PCs, Macs, and Shield TVs, without needing powerful hardware. However, the official public launch of the service wasn’t until February 2020.
GeForce Now lets users stream games from almost any platform that can open a browser, like Steam, Epic Games, and Ubisoft’s Uplay. It provides access to a vast library of titles without the need for large downloads or installations. And Nvidia has been steadily investing in it. The company claims there are over 2,000 games available from 34 data centers around the world servicing 34 million users—now, the sun never sets on GeForce Now.
GeForce Now started out as a platform to enable Shield back when we all thought TV screens would become the primary gaming place. That didn’t happen; consoles still own the TV screen with a few exceptions, and the hard core never left their PCs or got really excited about throwing a game from their smartphone to a TV.
In 2017, Fortnite came on the scene, and then in September 2020, when it also became free to play, suddenly, streaming got interesting.
But it was additive, not a replacement. The AAA FPS gamers didn’t give up their lust for bullets and blood, but when they couldn’t get their BFG, Fortnite was a good alternative.
Nvidia said, hey, don’t limit yourself to one game; come to our site and try 600 of them.
In the early days, it was okay, but mostly only in urban areas where users were closer to a server relay. Now, with 5G and more towers, high bandwidth is available almost everywhere. Fiber to the home has rolled out, or at least fiber to the curb, so you don’t hear much about the bandwidth divide anymore.
If you haven’t tried GeForce Now in a while, or maybe never, now is the time. It’s all grown up, robust, has an extensive library, lots of servers, and zillions of users, many of whom like multi-player games. And if you’re a FO76 gamer, you’ll find lots of friends.
