NVIDIA’s new opt-in policy for games on GeForce NOW hopefully means better stability for the catalog

The game streaming market is now a much more crowded place than it was when NVIDIA GeForce NOW first arrived in beta several years ago. Google Stadia is the hot new platform on the block, and Microsoft’s xCloud is another contender in the scene. NVIDIA’s service is still one of the better options out there as it continues to get more games. Already this month, GeForce NOW has gotten over 40 new titles. The best part of GeForce NOW has been the fact that you don’t have to re-purchase a game to play it since NVIDIA taps into your existing Steam library. NVIDIA is now making a change to its game catalog, however, that will require game developers to now opt-in to the service.

On the surface, this reads like a bad thing for consumers. If game developers are required to opt-in to keep their games on GeForce NOW, that will undoubtedly mean fewer games will be available on the platform. However, this will mean much more stability for the game catalog in the long run and better support. Before this change, we would see games randomly disappear from GeForce NOW as developers didn’t like that their games were included on the platform. Some developers may have felt like they weren’t getting paid to have their titles available on multiple platforms while others may want to pursue an exclusivity or licensing deal with one of the available cloud gaming platforms. For end-users, though, having a game suddenly removed from GeForce NOW is incredibly annoying. Requiring developers to opt-in will mean fewer games are available, but the games that are available will be less likely to be suddenly yanked off the platform. Developers will be fully aware and ready to support the platform.

Developers and publishers who haven’t opted-in to GeForce NOW by May 31st will have their titles removed. The good news is there are already over 2,000 games committed to the service, and more games will be added every Thursday. You can see the full list of titles and publishers that have already opted-in, as well as those that have opted-out or failed to opt-in, on NVIDIA’s website here.

Source: NVIDIA