Nvidia GeForce Now subscribers, do you want the good news first, or the bad news?
Bad news it is then – the technically-accomplished game streaming service is about to lose a significant number of games, including popular titles like Yakuza 0 and Kiwami, Two Point Hospital as well as Shenmue I and II. You can see the full list of titles leaving the service here.
It's the latest blow to the service, following a number of high profile catalog losses following GeForce Now's move out of beta and into a full, paid-for product.
But this time at least, it comes with a silver lining. The good news? Nvidia may finally have a solution to stabilize its library, and build stronger, consistent relationships with the developers of the games it wants to feature.
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Opt-in gaming
Going forward, developers and publishers will have to opt-in for their games to be a part of Nvidia GeForce Now. Previously, it seems Nvidia had moved to add support for titles without the explicit prior approval of the publishers behind them, on the basis that it wasn't selling licenses to games directly itself. Instead, GeForce Now was seen as just a portal to access titles gamers already owned on existing PC streaming platforms, and GeForce Now was just the conduit to access them.
But with publishers and developers still figuring out their own cloud gaming strategies, this introduced conflict. So instead, Nvidia will now require all parties to opt-in before a game is featured.
“Response has been strong with over 200 publishers committing to streaming on the service,” said Phil Eisler, Nvidia’s GeForce Now vice president.
“Going forward, only the games that are opted in will be available on the service, providing confidence in the GeForce Now game library. Yet some publishers are still figuring out their cloud strategies. Those that haven’t opted in as of May 31 will be removed.”
While in the short term this will mean more game losses, looking forward it means that you're far less likely to see games suddenly disappear from GeForce Now. Plus, it gives a framework for those that have left the service to re-negotiate and come back onboard. It finally feels like progress for a service that showed so much early potential.
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