Game streaming services have been gaining traction recently.
Google Stadia is perhaps the best known service that lets you play games streamed from servers over the internet, but it's hardly the only one, and certainly not the first.
Nvidia has been working on its GeForce Now service for a few years, and it's finally come out of beta and into a full, commercially available subscription service.
While it isn't perfect, it's a flexible and friendly service for playing PC games you already own on your non-gaming-PC devices.
Pricing and Requirements
GeForce Now is available in two membership tiers, Free and Founders.
Free is obviously free, and Founders is $4.99 per month with a 90-day free trial period.
The Founders membership provides priority access to Nvidia's systems, streaming with RTX ray-tracing enabled, and gaming sessions of up to six hours at a time.
The free membership disables RTX and only lets you play for an hour at a time before you need to go to the back of the line and wait to access Nvidia's computers again.
If you have a relatively current PC, Mac, Android device, or an Nvidia Shield TV, you can probably run GeForce Now.
PCs require at least Windows 7 64-bit with a dual-core CPU 2GHz or faster, 4GB of system memory, and a GPU that supports DirectX 11 (which includes Intel HD Graphics 2000 or better integrated graphics).
Mac support requires at least macOS 10.10, and according to Nvidia has been tested successfully on MacBook Air and MacBook Pro notebooks from 2008 and newer, and iMacs from 2009 and newer.
Android devices require at least Android 5.0 with 2GB of RAM and support for OpenGL ES3.2.
Like all game streaming services, GeForce Now requires lots of internet bandwidth and speed.
It needs at least a 15Mbps connection for 720p60 game streaming, and 25Mbps for 1080p60 streaming.
That means either a wired or a 5GHz Wi-Fi connection to your router.
Games
Unlike Stadia Pro, which includes a handful of games, and PlayStation Now, which includes a massive library of PlayStation titles but no à la carte choices, GeForce Now includes no retail games as part of the service.
You can play plenty of free titles like Destiny 2, Fortnite, and Path of Exile, but to really take advantage out of the service, you need to bring your own digital games libraries into the picture.
GeForce Now ties into your Steam, Battle.net, Epic, and UPlay accounts to let you play many of the games you already own, running on high-end gaming PCs and streamed to any compatible device.
It's a similar structure to Shadow, but with a much lower price and without the geographical limitations or completely open remote access to a Windows 10 PC.
This doesn't mean GeForce Now works with all of your games, though.
The service supports hundreds of major titles, but it doesn't include everything available on Steam.
GeForce Now offers a search engine for checking if the game you want to play is supported, but there is no publicly available list of everything available on the service, so you'll have to do some searching to make sure your favorite games are playable.
GeForce Now runs from its own app on PC, Mac, and Android.
It's a fairly simple game loader that lets you search for games, add them to your GeForce Now library, and start playing.
Because GeForce Now links with your digital libraries, you'll have to individually log into each library when you first start a game in that library.
The service prompted me to log into Steam to play The Legend of Bum-Bo, but after that I didn't have to enter any more information to play Disco Elysium or The Surge 2.
However, after I logged into Battle.net to play Overwatch, I still had to log into it again to play Diablo 3.
Then I had to log into the service again each time I played the game.
It's a distinct nuisance I found with my Battle.net account, but not the others.
The digital library implementation of GeForce Now is a bit awkward.
The software launches a full-screen window that accesses one of Nvidia's PCs, streaming its feed to you.
This window shows a closed-off background with the digital library appearing on top of it, like a very closed-off version of Shadow.
For Steam, I had to "install" my games on the streaming system (which, to be fair, took just seconds for each) before I could play them.
Each window opens specifically for the game you're playing, so while you can see your full Steam library, you can only play the one you're supposed to be playing.
Streaming
I tested GeForce Now on a 13-inch Samsung Notebook 7 Spin with an Intel Core i5 processor and integrated graphics.
I had no problems running any GeForce Now game on this notebook, which, it should be noted, has no dedicated 3D graphics.
While GeForce Now can stream up to 1080p60, the games it runs default to 720p.
I had to manually change the resolution of most games I opened to 1080p myself, which is another minor inconvenience, but it hardly renders the experience unusable.
Once I linked my accounts and made sure everything was signed in, installed, and properly configured, I had a nearly flawless experience with GeForce Now.
Every game I played, including The Legend of Bum-bo, Disco Elysium, Diablo 3, The Surge 2, and Dark Souls 3 looked and felt excellent, with 1080p graphics that appeared to be a solid 60 frames per second (after I made sure each game was set to play in that resolution).
More importantly, controls felt extremely responsive, and I couldn't detect any lag between my inputs and my characters' on-screen actions.
That's vital for any game streaming service.
Even my cloud saves carried over without any input on my part nearly flawlessly; Dark Souls 3 was the only game to not import any save games from my PC installation.
Good Remote PC Gaming (With a Little Bit of Effort)
Nvidia GeForce Now is one of the best game streaming services available, letting you play some of the finest titles on Steam, Battle.net, Epic, and UPlay on nearly any computer or mobile device.
The way it integrates those digital libraries into its own is occasionally wonky and awkward, but if you don't mind taking a few extra steps to load a game on a system that otherwise couldn't play it at all, it works very well.
If you have a big collection of PC games and want to play a good chunk of them on the go, GeForce Now is the service to get.
If you want a huge Netflix-style library of older games to try and have no interest in building up a personal collection, PlayStation Now is a fantastic choice.
As for Google Stadia, unless the service works out its issues with limited game choices and opaque pseudo-ownership of purchases, it doesn't even make the list.
Pros
1080p60 video with no noticeable input lag on a fast connection
Supports many games on Steam, Battle.net, Epic, and UPlay
Cons
Requires fast internet connection
Only free-to-play games available aside from titles you already own
Some general user interface and library integration wonkiness
The Bottom Line
Nvidia's GeForce Now streaming service lets you play many games from your Steam library on nearly any device.
Game streaming services have been gaining traction recently.
Google Stadia is perhaps the best known service that lets you play games streamed from servers over the internet, but it's hardly the only one, and certainly not the first.
Nvidia has been working on its GeForce Now service for a few years, and it's finally come out of beta and into a full, commercially available subscription service.
While it isn't perfect, it's a flexible and friendly service for playing PC games you already own on your non-gaming-PC devices.
Pricing and Requirements
GeForce Now is available in two membership tiers, Free and Founders.
Free is obviously free, and Founders is $4.99 per month with a 90-day free trial period.
The Founders membership provides priority access to Nvidia's systems, streaming with RTX ray-tracing enabled, and gaming sessions of up to six hours at a time.
The free membership disables RTX and only lets you play for an hour at a time before you need to go to the back of the line and wait to access Nvidia's computers again.
If you have a relatively current PC, Mac, Android device, or an Nvidia Shield TV, you can probably run GeForce Now.
PCs require at least Windows 7 64-bit with a dual-core CPU 2GHz or faster, 4GB of system memory, and a GPU that supports DirectX 11 (which includes Intel HD Graphics 2000 or better integrated graphics).
Mac support requires at least macOS 10.10, and according to Nvidia has been tested successfully on MacBook Air and MacBook Pro notebooks from 2008 and newer, and iMacs from 2009 and newer.
Android devices require at least Android 5.0 with 2GB of RAM and support for OpenGL ES3.2.
Like all game streaming services, GeForce Now requires lots of internet bandwidth and speed.
It needs at least a 15Mbps connection for 720p60 game streaming, and 25Mbps for 1080p60 streaming.
That means either a wired or a 5GHz Wi-Fi connection to your router.
Games
Unlike Stadia Pro, which includes a handful of games, and PlayStation Now, which includes a massive library of PlayStation titles but no à la carte choices, GeForce Now includes no retail games as part of the service.
You can play plenty of free titles like Destiny 2, Fortnite, and Path of Exile, but to really take advantage out of the service, you need to bring your own digital games libraries into the picture.
GeForce Now ties into your Steam, Battle.net, Epic, and UPlay accounts to let you play many of the games you already own, running on high-end gaming PCs and streamed to any compatible device.
It's a similar structure to Shadow, but with a much lower price and without the geographical limitations or completely open remote access to a Windows 10 PC.
This doesn't mean GeForce Now works with all of your games, though.
The service supports hundreds of major titles, but it doesn't include everything available on Steam.
GeForce Now offers a search engine for checking if the game you want to play is supported, but there is no publicly available list of everything available on the service, so you'll have to do some searching to make sure your favorite games are playable.
GeForce Now runs from its own app on PC, Mac, and Android.
It's a fairly simple game loader that lets you search for games, add them to your GeForce Now library, and start playing.
Because GeForce Now links with your digital libraries, you'll have to individually log into each library when you first start a game in that library.
The service prompted me to log into Steam to play The Legend of Bum-Bo, but after that I didn't have to enter any more information to play Disco Elysium or The Surge 2.
However, after I logged into Battle.net to play Overwatch, I still had to log into it again to play Diablo 3.
Then I had to log into the service again each time I played the game.
It's a distinct nuisance I found with my Battle.net account, but not the others.
The digital library implementation of GeForce Now is a bit awkward.
The software launches a full-screen window that accesses one of Nvidia's PCs, streaming its feed to you.
This window shows a closed-off background with the digital library appearing on top of it, like a very closed-off version of Shadow.
For Steam, I had to "install" my games on the streaming system (which, to be fair, took just seconds for each) before I could play them.
Each window opens specifically for the game you're playing, so while you can see your full Steam library, you can only play the one you're supposed to be playing.
Streaming
I tested GeForce Now on a 13-inch Samsung Notebook 7 Spin with an Intel Core i5 processor and integrated graphics.
I had no problems running any GeForce Now game on this notebook, which, it should be noted, has no dedicated 3D graphics.
While GeForce Now can stream up to 1080p60, the games it runs default to 720p.
I had to manually change the resolution of most games I opened to 1080p myself, which is another minor inconvenience, but it hardly renders the experience unusable.
Once I linked my accounts and made sure everything was signed in, installed, and properly configured, I had a nearly flawless experience with GeForce Now.
Every game I played, including The Legend of Bum-bo, Disco Elysium, Diablo 3, The Surge 2, and Dark Souls 3 looked and felt excellent, with 1080p graphics that appeared to be a solid 60 frames per second (after I made sure each game was set to play in that resolution).
More importantly, controls felt extremely responsive, and I couldn't detect any lag between my inputs and my characters' on-screen actions.
That's vital for any game streaming service.
Even my cloud saves carried over without any input on my part nearly flawlessly; Dark Souls 3 was the only game to not import any save games from my PC installation.
Good Remote PC Gaming (With a Little Bit of Effort)
Nvidia GeForce Now is one of the best game streaming services available, letting you play some of the finest titles on Steam, Battle.net, Epic, and UPlay on nearly any computer or mobile device.
The way it integrates those digital libraries into its own is occasionally wonky and awkward, but if you don't mind taking a few extra steps to load a game on a system that otherwise couldn't play it at all, it works very well.
If you have a big collection of PC games and want to play a good chunk of them on the go, GeForce Now is the service to get.
If you want a huge Netflix-style library of older games to try and have no interest in building up a personal collection, PlayStation Now is a fantastic choice.
As for Google Stadia, unless the service works out its issues with limited game choices and opaque pseudo-ownership of purchases, it doesn't even make the list.
Pros
1080p60 video with no noticeable input lag on a fast connection
Supports many games on Steam, Battle.net, Epic, and UPlay
Cons
Requires fast internet connection
Only free-to-play games available aside from titles you already own
Some general user interface and library integration wonkiness
The Bottom Line
Nvidia's GeForce Now streaming service lets you play many games from your Steam library on nearly any device.
