Nvidia to take on Google with formal launch of cloud gaming service GeForce Now
Nvidia has launched GeForce Now, a cloud gaming service that will compete head-to-head against Google Stadia and, potentially, a cloud gaming service from Amazon.
The Founders Edition will cost $5 per month enabling players to play whenever, and for as long, as they want. Potential players can also create free accounts to try out the service, which will limit them to one-hour sessions on less powerful hardware.
That compares with $10 per month for Google Stadia and, unlike Google Stadia at the moment, users don't have to buy any hardware - just download an application that can run on macOS, Windows or Android, including Nvidia's own Shield TV console, which runs Android 9.0.
Subscribers to Google Stadia, meanwhile, have to pay $129 for a Stadia Founders edition, as well as the monthly subscription. Games also have to be purchased on top of that - or purchased again if users already own them and want to play them over Google's Stadia infrastructure. Furthermore, should Google close Stadia - and Google has a track record of closing unprofitable businesses and initiatives - users will also lose access to the games they have purchased.
Also unlike Google Stadia, Nvidia isn't planning to replace current PC gaming portals, like Steam, or to take-on Microsoft Xbox, Sony's PlayStation or Nintendo. Instead, the service will connect to Steam, Epic Games and Battle.Net enabling subscribers to play games they have already purchased - but untied from their PC or laptop.
It comes after two years of beta testing, with Nvidia promising to work on a title-by-title basis to optimise games for the cloud.
However, GeForce Now won't be available to everyone. Rather, the service will be limited to territories where network latency should be less of an issue. Namely, where Nvidia operates data centres. This should include every corner of the US, most parts of Europe, Russia, Korea and Japan.
At the same time, Nvidia has also been pushing its GPUs as data centre work horses for mathematically intensive calculations, such as artificial intelligence.
source computing
Industry: Cloud Computing