By and large, Chromebooks aren’t known for being the best gaming PCs, being designed more around things like better battery life and affordability than the technical horsepower needed to run a lot of major titles these days. That said, it’s now easier than ever to play games on Chromebooks, because Nvidia’s streaming service GeForce Now has just launched in beta form for ChromeOS.
While most of the discussion around cloud-based game-streaming lately has focused largely on Google Stadia and Microsoft’s upcoming Project xCloud, Nvidia has been steadily growing its own service and working to make it more enticing. Just last week, Nvidia began offering a discounted GeForce subscription that includes access to Hyper Scape’s Battle Pass, and earlier this year, the company confirmed that Cyberpunk 2077 will come to the service on launch day.
Starting today, Chromebook users can now access a library of games that includes hundreds of PC titles, including popular ones like Fortnite, League of Legends, Destiny 2, etc. What’s more, Nvidia recently introduced the ability to sync Steam accounts to GeForce Now, meaning players with proper gaming PCs will soon be able to continue playing their games on the go with their Chromebooks, and without much fuss (provided they have good wi-fi, of course).
In addition to these, GeForce Now has recently introduced extra features designed to let players engage with their games in different ways. These include the automatic video-capturing Highlights feature and Freestyle, which lets players customize the way their games look. These are currently exclusive to PC and Mac, but Nvidia intends to add them to Chromebooks in future updates, along with Ansel, a professional-grade in-game camera feature that’s currently in the works.
GeForce Now has had an up-and-down year so far. Initially, its ability to let people access games from Steam, the Epic Games Store, and the like led to multiple publishers pulling their games from GeForce Now, since they hadn't given Nvidia permission to put them on the service. Nvidia has since changed its policy to avoid similar incidents, so Chromebook users shouldn’t have to worry about their favorite games disappearing for the time being.
Anyone interested in giving the GeForce Now beta a try need simply head to play.geforcenow.com and sign in if they already have an account. Those who don’t, however, have two options. The main one is signing up for a $5-a-month subscription, but there’s also a free account option that lets users play games in hour-long chunks.
Source: Nvidia