Geforce Now Streaming Service is Losing Game Publishers

Cloud gaming is having its worst period since Onlive was introduced in 2011.

Much like Google's Stadia, Nvidia's GeForce Now service is having a really hard time during its launch.

Earlier this month, GeForce Now Exited its beta stage with some unfortunate news. Now, the service will no longer host Activision Blizzard games.

The decision is said to come after a licensing dispute between Nvidia and publisher Activision. We reached out to Activision for comment, but did not get an immediate response.

GeForce Now loses even more games?

Here's a random wallpaper, because I couldn't figure out what else to put here.

But the Nvidia streaming platform has more bad news: If losing one major publisher wasn't enough, now they're losing two.

Bethesda Softworks is now pulling most of its games from the GeForce now service, including heavy hitters like Fallout 4 and Skyrim. The only game that may be staying on the platform at all would be Wolfenstein: Youngblood; one of their worst games.

But don't worry, game streaming fans: Nvidia's Geforce blog has a post from the 20th of February that I think is supposed to make you think these games are coming back.

This trial is an important transitional period where gamers, developers and publishers can try the premium experience with minimal commitment while we continue to refine our offering.
As we approach a paid service, some publishers may choose to remove games before the trial period ends. Ultimately, they maintain control over their content and decide whether the game you purchase includes streaming on GeForce NOW. Meanwhile, others will bring games back as they continue to realize GeForce NOW’s value (stay tuned for more on that).

What is GeForce Now?

[INSERT RANDOM NVIDIA WALLPAPER TO PAD OUT THE LENGTH OF THE ARTICLE HERE]

Unlike Google Stadia's disastrous launch, full of false promises and a handful of games, GeForce Now shows a lot of potential, with its massive game library, and a $5 per-month subscription. But there's a catch: All the games on GeForce Now, you have to have already purchased elsewhere, like Steam, and, you can't play any games that the publisher and Nvidia don't already approve, which is where this licensing problems comes from.

Temporary setback or not, cloud gaming is not looking good for 2020. Between North America's notoriously weak broadband coverage, and cloud service's tendency to disappear any product you pay for without notice, I think we can stop pretending to be excited about cloud gaming. Let's be honest; we're not, and neither are you.

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