Stadia's main competitor is out of beta: GeForce is now available and allows you to run games from Steam
Cloud gaming is one of the central agendas of the past and, most likely, this year. After several years in beta (testing of the service began back in 2017) GeForce Now is officially released. Some publications immediately called it the main competitor, almost the killer of Google Stadia, as well as one of the most interesting offers in the niche.
There are good reasons for this.
The first reason is a different scenario for interacting with content from other cloud platforms
Like the competition
In Google Stadia, you pay both for access to the service and for projects that support it.
Exactly how Microsoft‘s Project xCloud, expected this year, will work is unknown, but most likely it will be about a single subscription to both the service and the games. At least, that’s how a similar solution from Sony — PlayStation Now works.
In all the cases described, the choice of projects is limited to the site: a couple of dozen on Stadia and Project xCloud, as well as several hundred on PlayStation Now.
Like GeForce Now
Nvidia, the developer of GeForce Now, positions its solution as an open platform. The company says it does not want to limit players to a closed and small library. On the contrary, it is in its interests to enable users to play those projects that they already have on those sites to which they are accustomed. In short, GeForce Now allows you to run games “in the cloud” from Steam and Epic Games Store accounts.
The latter instantly turns GeForce Now into a cloud service with the largest library of games, including both niche projects and major hits.
GeForce Now also has its own libraryThe second reason is the cost of the service
Like the competition
Using Stadia is not easy yet. Now to access the service, you need to buy a pack that includes a gamepad and Chromecast. You will have to pay $9.99 monthly for access to premium functionality. Plus, in the service store, users must purchase games for the full cost.
It is not yet known how much Project xCloud will cost, but it is hardly less than an Xbox Game Pass subscription, which allows you to download and play 200 games for a month.
PlayStation Now is available for Sony console owners and PC users with a library of 700 projects for a monthly subscription of the same $9.99.
Like GeForce Now
As for GeForce Now, you can use it for free. That’s just in this case, the game session will be limited to one hour of play (but not the number of sessions themselves). For a basic subscription of $4.99 (this is a temporary offer, then the cost will increase, how much is unclear), they promise the ability to include RTX in games, the best connection at the time of connection. However, even here they will put a limit on the size of the session, but it will not be an hour, but six.
What else?
Formally, GeForce Now was launched in Russia through GFN partners.EN back in the fall. But this is a separate service that does not allow you to play games from third-party platforms and does not have a free tariff.
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