Although known mainly for its wealth of (sometimes very expensive) graphics cards, Nvidia is also at the forefront of cloud gaming. Its GeForce Now subscription service allows players to game online without having to have a hefty PC jammed with powerful hardware.
However, something is on the horizon which doesn’t appear to be going down well. According to a recent post on the Nvidia blog, a monthly playtime limit is coming into effect at the start of 2025. It essentially caps cloud gaming though GeForce Now to 100 hours.
The monthly allowance is to “continue providing exceptional quality and speed — as well as shorter queue times — for Performance and Ultimate members,” according to the post. Nvidia says overall it won’t have effect around 94% of its current userbase.
No prizes for guessing people’s reactions
Of course, you can increase this limit by paying a bit extra. To the tune of $2.99 or $5.99 per month for Performance or Ultimate users, respectively, you can add an extra 15 hours onto this 100-hour cap. It can also be rolled over to the next month, but only to a maximum of 115 hours (which includes the initial 100 you’ll already be getting).
The news was shared on the above Reddit post and without even opening the thread, you can probably guess people’s reaction to the upcoming monthly playtime limits. Even though Nvidia has said current members who pay can enjoy unlimited gaming until January 2026, it’s not going down well with the community.
Of course, Reddit is not the whole world and the comments are just a small slice of how people may be feeling. However, I put it to you that not many are going to be pleased with GeForce Now moving forward with the cap. One hundred hours a month equates to just over three hours a day. Even if you skip some days or only play for a couple of hours, it does mean having to keep an eye on how much you’re playing, lest you need to fork over for additional time. The phrase “nickel and dime” suggests itself somewhat.
Published: Nov 8, 2024 08:38 am