Ever since Nvidia GeForce Now launched in 2015, I've been singing the praises of the service to everyone, long before Google Stadia (read the full Google Stadia review) promised console-quality game streaming, GeForce Now was in the process of delivering it, first on the Nvidia Shield platform, then on PC and Mac While other game streaming services have come and gone from the spotlight, GeForce Now has been quietly perfecting itself during its long, long beta

Today (February 4), GeForce Now is finally in full release, bringing with it a lot of great games and a handful of frustrating limitations what is GeForce Now, how does it work, how much does it cost, and which games will be available to play? Read on to learn more about

Nvidia GeForce Now is a game streaming service that can be accessed from computers, smartphones, and TVs; GeForce Now can stream from a pre-determined library, like PlayStation Now, or it can be accessed through a service like Google Stadia, relying on games already owned through other digital libraries, instead of purchasing games directly through the service like Google Stadia

As in the beta, GeForce Now supports games from Steam, Epic, UPlay, and Battlenet; Nvidia may add more partners in the future, but for now, GOG, Origin, and Microsoft Store are not covered [At this time, GeForce Now is compatible with Windows PCs, Macs, Nvidia Shield TV streaming players, and recent Android smartphones (This could be a significant advantage over Google Stadia, which currently works only with the Google Pixel smartphone line) Related apps can be downloaded from Nvidia's website

Once you have set up your GeForce Now account and linked it to your Steam (or Epic/UPlay/Blizzard) account, using the service is very easy Simply open the app, find the game you want to play, open it, and wait for it to stream (If you've never played it before, you may need to download it to Nvidia's servers first) Most games do not support touchscreen capability, so you will need to connect a controller or mouse and keyboard

GeForce Now is essentially just a remote server that streams games through a dedicated app Therefore, not all of your games will be supported On the other hand, it is guaranteed to work almost flawlessly with any supported game, so in theory, it should perform just as powerfully as your Internet connection

Speaking of which: GeForce Now requires at least a 15 Mbps connection and recommends sticking to a 5 GHz home network if possible; PCs and Macs also require a dual-core CPU, 4 GB RAM, and access to DirectX 11 For Android smartphones, 2 GB RAM and Android 50 or higher are required These requirements are fairly modest, but if you don't meet these requirements (especially internet speed), GeForce Now won't help you much

Unfortunately, GeForce Now is a bit esoteric when it comes to game selection There is no comprehensive list of game/platform compatibility Instead, you must search for the title of the game you want, click on it from the list of search results, and see if GeForce Now supports it Here is a link to the search bar

The game selection looks pretty good so far Already, you can access games like Overwatch, Fortnite, Destiny 2, Cuphead, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and Dark Souls

On the other hand, not all publishers have yet endorsed GeForce Now; Capcom, Konami, Remedy, Rockstar, and Square Enix, many of these companies participated during the long GeForce Now beta period despite their refusal to list their titles Most likely they will join again at some point, but we do not know when

It is also difficult to say if every game will be available on every platform For example: I had no problem playing The Witcher 3 on my computer However, on my cell phone it was not listed as a supported game at all

Here's the good news: GeForce Now doesn't cost you anything if you simply jump in, play a bit, and pop back out again The bad news: if you want all the bells and whistles, you have to pay $60 a year

GeForce Now has two tiers: a free tier and a "Founders" tier that costs $5 per month for 12 months Using the former allows you to play for an hour at a time before having to wait your turn in the queue again With the latter, you can play for 6 hours at a time and get "priority access" when it is time to wait in the queue for your next session (The Founders tier also supports ray tracing with graphics for certain games

In short, the free tier is not very useful for those who like to sit and play for hours at a time So far, I haven't had to wait that long between sessions, but since this technology is also fairly new, user queues will probably grow over time

Tom'sGuide will have more information on GeForce Now after we try it out Until then, you can try it out for free - provided you already have some digital games