What you need to know
- After just over a year, NVIDIA's Founders plan for GeForce Now is coming to an end.
- The new premium tier will be known as Priority and it's going to cost twice as much.
- Existing Founders members will keep their discounted rate and the free tier remains.
The weekly NVIDIA GeForce Now updates usually bring news of new games being added to the service, but this week is a little different. On one hand, it's a bit of bad news, on the other, there's some good.
Starting with the bad news, the GeForce Now Founders membership is going away and being replaced with a new Priority premium tier. The difference is mainly the price, it's now twice as expensive. A month will cost $10 and a year's subscription will run you for a cool $100.
The good news, at least for some, is that the price increase only applies to new members. Existing Founders tier subscribers are being locked into their current rate as a thank you from NVIDIA for supporting the service in its first year.
"GeForce NOW wouldn't be what it is today without our Founders members. That's why we're adding the Founders for Life benefit, which continues the special $4.99 introductory rate as long the account is in good standing."
Priority members will have access to the same features as Founders, including RTX in supported games as well as extended session length and priority access to servers. The free tier will remain as before, with a 1 hour limit on sessions.
The Founders tier was always going to be a time-limited thing, but it's not as if NVIDIA is slowing down and simply trying to rake in some more coin. The latest update to the service is focusing on the streaming tech and making the experience better for its players.
"With the 2.0.28 update, currently rolling out to members and available to all in about a week, streaming quality takes the next step. One of the ways we do this is with a unique adaptive Vsync technology. The feature synchronizes frame rates at 60 or 59.94 Hz server-side to match the display client-side, reducing stutter and latency on supported games. A new adaptive de-jitter technology will enable us to increase bit rates for improved quality over choppy networks, too.
NVIDIA is also adding capacity to its busiest data centers as well as opening new ones. First up will be Phoenix, followed by the first Canadian center in Montreal. Also on the slate for the coming months is account linking for key games to speed up the process of actually getting into a game, as well as changes to make general loading times faster.
There are, of course, new games being added this week, too. Here's the seven new titles joining the catalog from today:
- Do Not Feed the Monkeys (Steam)
- GoNNER (Steam)
- Loop Hero (Epic Games Store)
- Monopoly Plus (Steam)
- Snooker 19 (Steam)
- System Shock: Enhanced Edition (Steam)
- Wanba Warriors (Steam)
Changes to the subscription tiers are in effect from today, also, but you can still sign up for free and check it out first.
NVIDIA's cloud game streaming service is one of the best available today, delivering lag-free gaming at 1080p/60fps. The fact that you can access NVIDIA's servers for free makes it an easy sell, and the $4.99 plan makes it an immediately enticing option for seasoned gamers.
