Why are games abandoning GeForce Now? Nvidia provides answers

Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud-streaming service has endured a rocky launch after numerous major game publishers pulled support. 

Activision Blizzard and Bethesda are the latest AAA publishers to remove titles from GeForce Now, with the likes of Overwatch, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Doom disappearing from the library. 

But why exactly are game publishers pulling support? A Nvidia spokesperson said, “Some publishers may choose to remove games before the Founders trial period ends. Ultimately, they maintain control over their content and decide whether the game you purchase includes the ability to stream it on GeForce Now.”

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That last sentence hints towards a financial issue, as publishers aren’t receiving additional revenue by allowing games to be streamed on GeForce Now. This is in contrast to Google Stadia, which requires you to purchase a game specifically for that streaming service, even if you already own it on another platform such as Steam.

This is just our speculation though. We asked Nvidia to clarify whether this was a financial dispute and why game publishers are suddenly pulling support now despite being seemingly happy with the arrangement during the GeForce Now beta. Nvidia replied with, “We currently don’t have further commentary to provide.”

We also reached out to Bethesda to ask why the publisher removed GeForce Now support. A representative told us they’re still waiting on a statement – we’ll update this article once we hear more. 

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It’s unclear whether these games will ever return to GeForce Now, although Nvidia remains confident when saying, “In many cases during the beta the games returned to the service once the publisher re-evaluated the opportunity GeForce Now provides.”

“Ultimately, GeForce NOW is the most developer-friendly service. Developers keep all their economics and community, while expanding their reach without any porting work.”

Nvidia also confirmed various publishers have requested for 1500 additional games – on top of the current hundreds of supported titles – to be introduced into the GeForce Now library. CD Projekt RED’s highly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 was also recently announced to be available to stream on GeForce Now at launch, showing there are still plenty of high-end publishers supporting the cloud-streaming service. 

There’s no doubt the absence of titles from Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, among others, is still a major issue for GeForce Now though. It’s in everyone’s interest – especially gamers – that this problem is resolved, but there’s no guarantee this stalemate will end.