What just happened? Another once ad-free service is about to get advertisements, but unlike Amazon Prime, Nvidia's GeForce Now free tier is actually... free. According to the company, the ads will only appear while you're waiting in a queue to start a gaming session which doesn't sound too disruptive.
Nvidia's GeForce Now streaming service has been around for a few years. For those unfamiliar, the service allows users to stream games that, barring some exceptions, they already own or can access via a Game Pass subscription. There's a $20 per month Ultimate level that lets people play for 8 hours using an RTX 4080 rig with a max 4K resolution, and a $9.99 Priority tier with access to a "premium" rig and 6-hour game lengths.
GeForce Now also has a free plan that offers a basic rig (an RTX 2080 with no RTX option), 1-hour sessions, and standard access to the gaming servers. Nvidia has now confirmed to The Verge that users on this tier will soon see up to two minutes of ads while waiting in a queue to start a new gaming session.
Why introduce ads now? Nvidia says they will help pay for the free tier and will reduce average wait times for users over time. Team Green said it had over 25 million GeForce Now users in 2023 and had streamed a total of 250 million hours throughout the year. It never specifically said how many members were on the free tier.
In January, Nvidia announced that it was integrating its G-Sync technology into GeForce Now, bringing smoother gameplay and reduced latency, a helpful addition for Ultimate tier users who can stream at up to 240 FPS in 1080p. Nvidia is also introducing day passes so people can try out GeForce Now without spending the full amount for a monthly subscription: they will be $3.99 for Priority and $7.99 for the Ultimate tier.
We took an in-depth look at GeForce Now Ultimate in January last year, asking if it was better than buying an expensive new graphics card. A follow-up piece examined the new RTX 4080 tier. Expect a new GeForce Now article that looks at all the service's new features, as well as the Game Pass integration, to arrive on TechSpot in the coming weeks.