GeForce NOW, the cloud gaming service from NVIDIA, has announced major updates to its plans. One of these is a new limitation on how long a member can stream for a month.
The GeForce NOW Priority membership has been rebranded as Performance membership, and now gives better streaming at no extra cost. Performance members can stream games at up to 1440p resolution, which is an increase from the previous 1080p resolution. They can also save their in-game graphics settings across streaming sessions, including those for NVIDIA RTX features in compatible games. Existing Priority members have been automatically upgraded to Performance. This seems like a real deal until you get to the major downside: limited hours a month.
Beginning next year, GeForce NOW will implement a 100-hour monthly playtime allowance for Performance and Ultimate members. This limit is to keep quality, speed, and shorter queue times at a good number, but at the cost of the freedom to play members once had. Members who exceed the 100-hour limit can purchase additional playtime: 15 hours of Performance for $2.99 or 15 hours of Ultimate for $5.99. One of the best benefits of GeForce NOW was the fact that the limitations weren’t strict.
It is rare when a user can go all eight hours in one sitting, but the only consequence is that the user must get off and then requeue. Now, even paying $19.99 a month for Ultimate gives users, at most, a little over 3 hours a day. Users can save time by not playing for one day, but trying to save unused playtime for the next month is not as good since members can only carry over a maximum of 15 hours of unused playtime.
The most interesting part of this is the line, “All current Priority members are automatically upgraded to Performance and can take advantage of the upgraded streaming experience today.” It is uncommon to see subscription services force users onto a new subscription model without their consent. Normally, old plans are turned into “legacy” plans, and users can leave them anytime. In the case of GeForce NOW, the change is a rebranding and feature upgrade, not a price increase, and the only reduction in functionality is the time limit for streaming. This might make it less likely to be considered a material change, and they are being transparent and making sure users are aware of the change before it happens with this announcement.
Comparing this new plan with a competing service like Xbox Game Pass, that time limit is a bigger deal. Game Pass asks for $19.99 monthly for a huge library of games that can be played on multiple devices and doesn’t give a restriction on playtime.
While players are getting a time limit, they should be getting a much better streaming experience overall. The company is even adding seven games to the GeForce NOW library: Planet Coaster 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate, Empire of the Ants, Unrailed 2: Back on Track, TCG Card Shop Simulator, StarCraft II, and StarCraft Remastered.
The GeForce NOW is also offering active paid members, as of December 31, 2024, unlimited playtime for a full year until January 2026. This is essentially a way older users can keep things as-is for a year, and by the time it expires, many new users will have joined, and having restrictions will feel like the norm. New members can also receive this benefit if they sign up before December 31, 2024.
Source: NVIDIA
