Nvidia kills off GameStream on Shield, points users to Steam

By Jacob Roach December 16, 2022

Nvidia is discontinuing its GameStream service on its Shield and Shield TV streaming boxes (among the best streaming devices on the market). In an email sent to GameStream users, the company announced it would start rolling out an update in mid-February that removes GameStream from the Nvidia Games app.

GameStream has allowed Shield owners to stream games to their TV from their PC at up to 60 frames per second in 4K. Specifically, the app was designed with Steam’s Big Picture interface in mind, allowing you to play Steam games with ease (dubbed “GameStream Ready”). Nvidia is pointing users to the Steam Link app available on the Shield TV, which functions in a similar way.

Nvidia Shield 16gb Android TV — Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

It’s not quite an even switch, though. GameStream allowed you to add games that weren’t available on Steam manually. For that, Nvidia is pointing toward its paid GeForce Now cloud gaming service, which offers 4K cloud streaming on PC, Mac, Android, and browsers. GeForce Now also works with Shield and Shield TV.

Before the update hits, Nvidia says you’ll still be able to use GameStream as normal. You can choose to skip the update, as well, and Nvidia says “Gamestream may continue to work for a time, but will no longer be supported and eventually will stop working.” Declining the update also removes support for other Nvidia Games services, including GeForce Now.

Although disappointing for GameStream fans, it’s hard to justify keeping the service alive when Steam Link and GeForce Now are around. The Shield TV also supports Android apps like Parsec, allowing you to remotely connect to your PC in full, not just play games.

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Senior Staff Writer, Computing

Jacob Roach is a writer covering computing and gaming at Digital Trends. After realizing Crysis wouldn't run on a laptop, he…

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