Cloud gaming is getting better, but adds a new and unique limitation

NVIDIA GeForce Now has undergone a rather… interesting update. NVIDIA has announced that its mid-range plan will now change its name and offer higher resolution without increasing the price. The good news, however, comes with a somewhat controversial measure: there are no price increases, but there is a new limit on the number of gaming hours per month.

Let’s do it in parts.

NVIDIA plans. Today, GeForce Now offers three plans: free (with ads and sessions up to one hour), “Priority” (with FullHD and RTX resolution) and “Maximum” (the most complete with 4K resolution, up to 240 FPS). , DLSS 3, NVIDIA Reflex, etc.). Well, Priority has now been renamed to Performance and offers 1440p resolution instead of FullHD and compatibility with ultra-wide monitors.

Limits. As any GeForce Now player knows, there are currently no restrictions other than the length of each session. For example, those who pay for NVIDIA GeForce Now Ultimate can play for eight hours straight (who can catch them…), but beyond that, for example, if you want to play 600 hours a month in continuous eight-hour sessions. every . The sky’s the limit.

Or rather, it wasn’t.

100 hours. And, as NVIDIA announced in an official statement, starting January 1, 2025, the Performance and Ultimate plans will be capped at 100 hours per month. We’re talking about three hours of play a day.

The reason, according to NVIDIA, is to “continue to offer exceptional quality and speed (and lower latency) to Performance and Ultimate members.” They say this limit is “comfortable for the 94% of members who typically use the service during this time period.”

Buy time. What happens to the 6% that exceed the limit? What happens if we reach those 100 hours per month and want to keep playing? That we can buy a watch. For three dollars we can buy 15 hours of “Performance” gameplay, and for twice that amount, six dollars, we can get 15 hours of “Ultimate” gameplay. On the other hand, if we haven’t used up 100 hours, we can carry over up to 15 hours of unused game time to the next month. Like gigabytes of mobile plans, but with hours of play.

If you are already a user. Players who are already GeForce Now members or who subscribed before December 31, 2024 will not have any hours caps until 2025. According to NVIDIA, this is the “loyal member advantage.” If you’re already a player, you’ll be limited to those 100 hours per month for the next year.

Image | NVIDIA

In Hatak | There are already consoles that can play in the cloud. The fact is that you probably already have it at home: a cell phone.