Xbox Games Studios, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Codemasters, and Klei Entertainment are the latest to exit Nvidia’s GeForce Now streaming service, and the companies’ titles will no longer be available as of April 24.
The recent departures join a long list of publishers that have yanked games off GeForce Now since it launched its paid version in February. Meanwhile, Nvidia is working to form official partnerships to keep GeForce Now, which allows players to stream titles they already own at top graphic and performance settings, viable.
Losing all of Microsoft’s first-party PC games and the Warner Bros. catalog is a significant hit to Nvidia. Xbox Games Studios’ decision is unsurprising as its cloud-based streaming service Project xCloud will compete with GeForce Now when it exits public preview. Nvidia said it hopes titles leaving the streaming service will return in the future.
Not all major publishers are leaving GeForce Now, however. Nvidia announced it struck a deal with Ubisoft to add the complete Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry series beginning April 21. Many Ubisoft titles were previously playable including Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege and For Honor.
“Ubisoft fully supports Nvidia’s GeForce Now with complete access to our PC games from the Ubisoft Store or any supported game stores,” Ubisoft Senior Vice President of Partnerships Chris Early said. “We believe it’s a leading-edge service that gives current and new PC players a high-end experience with more choice in how and where they play their favorite games.”
Nvidia said hundreds of publishers are committed to GeForce Now, including Bandai Namco and Bungie, which publishes Destiny 2. It claims that 30 of the 40 most-played games ever on Steam are available on GeForce Now, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, Rust, and Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem. Nvidia is also adding 1,500 additional titles to the service.
“We’re already seeing a lot of our existing players take advantage of GeForce Now to stream Destiny 2 so they can play anytime, anywhere with their friends,” Bungie Director of Product Management Gary Clay said. “With Destiny 2 now free to play, we’re excited to partner with Nvidia to introduce even more players — even those who previously couldn’t hit min spec — to our growing community of Guardians.”
Despite the setbacks, Nvidia says it is committed to expanding GeForce Now’s library and expanding the number of people who can experience PC games.
