NVIDIA GeForce Now Review

While running games natively on your PC can yield great results, cloud game streaming offers many benefits. It’s user-friendly, offers cross-platform gameplay, and lets you play demanding titles with modest hardware. NVIDIA’s GeForce Now is a solid cloud gaming solution that lets you enjoy your PC games from anywhere. But is it worth it? Learn all about NVIDIA’s GeForce Now in our hands-on GeForce Now review!

What is NVIDIA GeForce Now and How Does it Work?

NVIDIA GeForce Now is a cloud game streaming platform. Boasting a massive catalog of over 800 games, GeForce Now allows you to sync with various digital PC game stores such as Steam, GOG, and Epic. Then, you can stream select games from your library that you already own using GeForce Now. Rather than operating on a Netflix-style buffet subscription model where you pay a monthly fee for access to a selection of games, GeForce Now instead enables you to stream games from your existing library.

NVIDIA GeForce Now Plans and Pricing

There are two different plans. The free tier provides standard access and 1-hour game sessions. Stepping up to the Priority tier adds priority access to game servers, RTX-enabled GPUs, and extended sessions. Priority retails for $9.99 a month or $99.99 billed annually which works out to $8.33 a month.

NVIDIA GeForce Now free tier:

• 1-hour game sessions
• Standard game server access

NVIDIA GeForce Now Priority plan:

• $9.99 USD/month or $99.99/year ($8.33/month)
• RTX-capable GPUs
• Extended game sessions
• Priority game server access

GeForce Now Hardware and Software Compatibility – Windows, macOS, Android, Android TV, iOS, and More

You can run GeForce Now on a bevy of different platforms. GeForce Now can be played on Windows and macOS PCs, Android and iOS mobile devices, Android TV boxes such as the NVIDIA Shield TV, and in browsers using Google Chrome for use on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Chrome OS PCs.

NVIDIA GeForce Now device compatibility

• Windows
• macOS
• Android
• iOS
• Android TV
• Chrome web browser

What Games are Available on GeForce Now – NVIDIA GeForce Now Games List

 

With over 800 games available from the likes of Steam, GOG, and Epic, chances are you’ve already got a handful of GeForce Now-compatible titles in your digital libraries already. Syncing with Steam, 39 of my 311 owned games were compatible including Marvel’s Avengers, Counter-Strike Source, and Rise of the Tomb Raider. There was a nice mix of newer games including The Witcher 3 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider as well as older games such as Titan Quest, Dungeon Siege, Far Cry, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

In addition to paid games from your Steam, GOG, and Epic libraries, GeForce Now features over 80 free-to-play titles. Highlights include Fortnite, Rocket League, League of Legends, Path of Exile, Destiny 2, and Dota 2. As such, even if you don’t have a large digital game collection, you can add loads of free games to GeForce Now and grow a sizable PC game arsenal.

GeForce Now free games:

• Fortnite
• League of Legends
• Rocket League
• Path of Exile
• Destiny 2
• World of Tanks
• …and more!

GeForce Now games:

• Marvel’s Avengers
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• Torchlight III
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Tomb Raider IV: The Last Revelation
• Hitman 3
• Overcooked
• Hollow Knight
• …and more!

GeForce Now Audiovisual Quality

 

Games run extremely well in GeForce Now. You’ll experience 1080p, 60 frames per second (FPS) gaming. Provided that you have a fast Internet connection, you can expect a good-looking, low-latency connection. I fired up Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris on GeForce Now. Visuals proved gorgeous with little to no noticeable lag. If there was any input lag, I wasn’t able to tell. Likewise, audio was crystal clear with no stuttering or slowdowns. My 8Bitdo SF30 wireless gamepad worked great out-of-the-box as did my keyboard and mouse. While you can probably achieve a higher frame rate and better resolution with a locally installed game, for 1080p gaming GeForce Now is excellent and looks great to the naked eye.

 

My NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti, Intel Core i7 equipped Razer Blade 15 gaming laptop had no issue running GeForce Now. Granted, many games in my GeForce Now library can run perfectly well on the Razer Blade 15. Likewise, GeForce Now ran flawlessly on my Samsung Galaxy S9+ Android handset as well as my NVIDIA Shield TV Android TV streaming box.

Is GeForce Now any Good – GeForce Now Review

 

GeForce Now is a great cloud game streaming service. It’s easy to use and affords simple cross-platform support. I liked the variety of compatible digital game retailers that offer GeForce Now support including Steam, Epic, and GOG. After I synced GeForce Now with my games libraries, I was able to easily access a slew of different titles across various devices including my Windows laptop and desktop, Android phone and tablet, plus my Android TV streaming boxes.

I was more than pleased with the visual quality of games. Since I play mostly in 1080p and only sporadically in 4K, I didn’t really notice much of a difference from my Razer Blade 15’s 1080p laptop screen or my LG 34UM69G-B ultrawide gaming monitor. Even playing on my Hisense H8F 50-inch 4K TV and blown up to 100-inches with my Xgimi Halo portable projector, games looked fantastic on GeForce Now.

However, there is a caveat. You’ll need a pretty strong Internet connection to achieve 1080p 60 FPS quality. NVIDIA recommends at least a 15Mbps connection for 720p 60 FPS gaming and a minimum of 25Mbps for 1080p 60 FPS. Thankfully, my over 400Mbps connection was able to churn out buttery smooth visuals.

I was pleasantly surprised by the number of games I was able to add to my GeForce Now account. If you’ve got a decent library spread across Steam, GOG, and Epic, it’s likely you’ll have at least a handful of GeForce Now-compatible titles. While syncing with Steam was fairly smooth, adding games from other digital distributors can be a bit clunky. Upon first logging into GeForce Now, I was prompted to sign in to Steam. However, I received no similar options for Epic or GOG. Instead, you can search for individual games such as Cyberpunk 2077, then add those manually. It’s not particularly difficult, but similar sync options for Steam, GOG, and Epic would make GeForce Now even more user-friendly.

I quite enjoyed the simplicity that NVIDIA’s GeForce Now ushered in. There was no need to fiddle with any drivers, download any game files, or juggle save files. Instead, I had instant access to a ton of games from my library across my PCs, Android TV boxes, and mobile devices.

Hardware support is pretty good. GeForce Now runs flawlessly on the Shield TV and I was able to install it on my Chromecast with Google TV as well as my Xgimi Halo portable projector. The ability to start a game on my desktop then seamlessly transfer over to my Shield TV or Chromecast for living room gaming on the couch showcases GeForce Now’s versatility. Where GeForce Now excels is by delivering high-quality, playable framerates on an array of devices. Streamed games looked equally as good on my Razer Blade 15 with its NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti as on my living room home theatre PC (HTPC) running an NVIDIA GT 1030. Because it can work on high-end hardware just as well as non-gaming PCs, GeForce Now is one of the best cloud gaming services for macOS.

Is GeForce Now Free Worth It?

Although GeForce Now Priority affords a slew of benefits including long gameplay session durations, RTX-enabled GPUs, and less wait time, GeForce Now Free is still great. I tested out both the premium paid Priority tier and GeForce Now Free. With the no-cost GeForce Now plan, I did experience minimal wait times. However, wait times weren’t terrible.

When I launched Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, there were four gamers ahead of me while GeForce Now looked for an available rig. I only had to wait for about a minute. Even with more than 80 players ahead of me when I launched The Council, I only had to wait for about two minutes. As such, wait times are quite manageable. Yet, you’ll lose out on RTX GPUs with the free GeForce Now plan. Additionally, GeForce Now free features a 1-hour gameplay session limit. Thankfully, there’s no waiting between sessions. For example, I was able to play Rise of the Tomb Raider for an hour, then switch over to Marvel’s Avengers for another hour-long session. Casual gamers should find the free GeForce Now tier more than sufficient while hardcore gamers should shell out for the Priority plan.

Is GeForce Now Free worth it?: The no-cost GeForce Now plan is perfect for casual gamers and gamers on a budget, though hardcore gamers may find it too limiting.

GeForce Now vs. Google Stadia vs. Amazon Luna

Cloud game-streaming services abound. Aside from NVIDIA’s GeForce Now, Google provides Stadia while Amazon hosts Luna. So how does GeForce Now compare to Google Stadia and Amazon Luna? The various gaming platforms share some similarities but also many differences.

Amazon’s Luna operates purely on a Netflix-style subscription model. It’s an all-you-can-game buffet. For a monthly fee, Amazon Luna lets you access dozens of PC games ranging from AAA titles to indie games, all for $5.99 USD per month. Quality is limited to 1080p, 60 FPS. In addition to Luna+, you can tack on Ubisoft+ for another $14.99 a month which lets you stream a smattering of Ubisoft titles such as Assassin’s Creed.

Google Stadia includes two tiers, a free plan and Stadia Pro. Similar to Amazon Luna, Google Stadia Pro is like Netflix or Hulu for PC gaming. $9.99 nets you a variety of titles such as Hitman and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. Alternatively, you can create a Google Stadia account for free. But you’ll need to buy most games and the majority of Stadia games cost close to their full retail amount. Cyberpunk 2077 will set you back $59.99 for a copy that’s locked to Stadia, for instance.

Unlike Amazon Luna+ or Google Stadia Pro, GeForce Now lacks any bundled games. Instead, it’s simply a service that lets you sync with existing digital PC game retailers such as Steam, GOG, and Epic, then lets you stream compatible titles from the cloud. It’s convenient for cross-platform support across Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and Android TV devices. Provided that you have a large library of digital computer games already, GeForce Now is a great cloud game streaming solution.

Amazon Luna with its competitive pricing and versatile game library is the best cloud game streaming service for most people. It’s easy to use and particularly great for casual gamers that lack powerful PCs and large game libraries. Google Stadia’s Pro plan is fantastic, though it’s tough to recommend buying titles through Stadia since they’re locked into Stadia. GeForce Now is best for hardcore players and gamers. You get the benefit of simple cross-platform compatibility, cloud game saves, plus actually owning PC games through the likes of Steam, Epic, and GOG. Moreover, GeForce Now could be a convenient solution for playing the latest demanding AAA PC titles like Cyberpunk 2077 without having to upgrade your rig.

NVIDIA GeForce Now Review – Final Thoughts

Ultimately, NVIDIA GeForce Now is a solid cloud gaming service. It’s particularly well-suited for gamers with large libraries of digital PC games from GOG, Steam, or Epic. You maintain ownership of all games and retain the option of installing them on your desktop or laptop, with the added benefit of cloud game streaming with GeForce Now. It’s also solid for casual gamers seeking to grow their collection of games. I liked that GeForce Now delivered smooth gameplay across every device I threw at it, from gaming laptops and desktops to Android TV streaming set-top boxes, phones, tablets, and even Chromebooks. Perfect for everyone from casual to hardcore gamers, NVIDIA’s GeForce Now is an excellent game-streaming platform. While importing games could be a bit more streamlined, it’s nonetheless an awesome service with a shockingly good free tier.