GeForce Now, the cloud gaming platform form Nvidia that takes on the likes of Google Stadia, is now publicly available. The platform was till date available on a waitlist basis. Being the largest PC Gaming chip maker, Nvidia sees this as a ripe opportunity for the company to cash on. However, the company will face stiff competition, most likely from Google’s Stadia, as both eye a pie of this lucrative yet underserved market.
What is clear though, is the fact that Nvidia is counting on its connection with the gaming community to steal customers away from competitiors. It is also planning to entice consumers with a free promotional period, which will then segue into a $4.99 per month charge for its service GeForce NOW.
Users of the platform will pay for the ability to stream games from Nvidia-owned data centers and will have access to the company’s “over the internet” graphic cards. While it looks similar to what Google is trying to do with ‘Stadia’, Nvidia is banking on its gaming expertise and had hence deployed its most “high-end” graphic cards for the purpose. GeForce NOW will allow users who are connecting even from old laptops, TV set-top boxes, Chromebooks and mobile phones, have access to high-definition gaming.
The company has also said that the service will be open, meaning users won’t have to buy games twice to play them on GeForce NOW.
“Your old laptop never gamed like this before,” said Phil Eisler who heads the company’s GeForce NOW. “That Mac, which for years has seen fewer games published for it or lost compatibility, can now play the latest games.”
The iOS version of the app isn’t deployed yet, meaning iPhone users might have to wait a little longer until they can play their favourite games on GeForce NOW.
Nvidia had a revenue of $11 billion last year, which is a fairly nice figure considering the PC gaming industry capped out at $29.6 billion. This move will also give the company an edge in the mobile gaming business, which has become worth twice as much as the PC gaming industry at $64 billion.
The company is also planning to introduce new graphic cards next month, with a source inside the company claiming that there will be 6 new versions of the GTX and RTX graphic cards, namely GeForce GTX 1650 – 4 GB GDDR6, GeForce GTX 1650 Ti – 4 GB GDDR6, GeForce RTX 2060 – 6 GB GDDR6, GeForce RTX 2070 – 8 GB GDDR6, GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER – 8 GB GDDR6, GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER – 8 GB GDDR6.
