New Delhi: Nvidia has launched the GeForce Now game streaming service in India. At 50 mbps you can get 4K game streaming at 60 FPS, but for the top-tier
experience, a 100 mbps connection is recommended, at which point the experience will be similar to a local 5080 card according to Nvidia. The service works on Macs, Smart TVs, smartphones, and thin-and-light laptops. Essentially, if you got a screen, you can probably run GeForce Now on it. At the product demos we saw it running on an old unsupported iPhone, as well as a notebook with Linux on it. There is a native Linux client, and it is not something that works on a browser.
GeForce Now works on old devices as well. (Image Credit: Nvidia).
The service uses local servers in Mumbai, with GeForce RTX 5080 Superpods, which are the latest and greatest Blackwell generation Superpods. Blackwell provides cinematic quality streaming, G-sync in the cloud, DLSS, and Nvidia Reflex that reduces lag in competitive games. Then there is the Rivermax technology that provides hardware-level packet tracing for smooth and consistent streaming by offloading the packet processing from the CPU to dedicated hardware accelerators. This significantly reduces choppiness and micro-stutters that can deteriorate a game streaming experience. The tech that Nvidia is working on in India is L4S, that reduces latency and packet loss in congested networks, which is something that Nvidia needs work closely with service providers for.
Service to start with open beta
Technical Product Manager John Gillooly stressed at the launch that it was important for Nvidia to bring in the latest tech to India. These pods are 35 per cent faster than the previous generation, with double the system memory. So the users of GeForce now in India will have access to the hottest silicon on the market. There are over 4000 games available from Steam, Ubisoft, Xbox, Epic and GoG, among others. About 180 Xbox Game Pass titles are available, along with new AAA releases. There is support for racing wheels, flight sticks and VR headsets as well. The service will be starting off with an open beta. Pricing and availability information has not been announced at this point of time.
Nvidia GeForce Now First Impressions
There has been absolutely no compromise on quality, and Nvidia is really trying here to provide a top-tier experience for everyone and make gaming more accessible to a wider audience. What I mean by this is that the graphics quality is exceptional, and something that you would not get without a desktop or laptop setup that costs lakhs. The latency is also low. In about 50 minutes of gameplay across platforms, I came across just one slight lag with mild stuttering. Force closing the native client on a Linux machine is not a good idea, it takes a bit of time to restart after that. I am also unsure about trusting the cloud with my saves, and wondering how the service works with multiple platforms, like I already have saves for Burnout Paradise on too many. Then something like Baldur’s Gate 3 will obviously be available without the awesome community-made mods. Watch out for our comprehensive review! The service is coming to India after nearly six years, but the timing is right considering the maturity of the domestic infrastructure. Microsoft also introduced its Xbox Cloud Gaming in India just a few months ago.
