In brief: Cloud gaming services haven’t replaced traditional gaming platforms yet, but that doesn’t mean such services are unsuccessful. Nvidia’s GeForce Now platform has performed well by offering a compelling deal to users with lower-end PCs that still want to enjoy high-fidelity gaming. Now, the company is offering a new high-end subscription plan to those with cash to spare: GeForce Now RTX 3080.
We probably don’t need to say this, but this subscription tier is powered by RTX 3080-equipped servers at Nvidia HQ and it promises the “highest performance” of any GeForce Now plan. The other two tiers are GeForce Now Free and Priority, which are $0 and $9 a month, respectively.
Nvidia hasn’t disclosed what hardware those tiers have, but the Priority plan offers RTX support at 1080p and 60 FPS (at maximum). Those who want to game at higher resolutions or framerates are better off with the RTX 3080 Plan, which is an entirely different beast.
It grants you eight-hour session lengths (up from Priority’s six), and up to 120 FPS at 1440P. If you favor resolution over performance, you can use a Shield TV device to play at “up to 4K HDR,” though that will likely reduce your FPS significantly.
The RTX 3080 GeForce Now plan will run you $100 per six months. As of writing, it is impossible to bill this plan monthly or annually, but if you were to average out the cost over those six months, it’d be about $16.67 per month. That isn’t an awful value for what you’re getting, provided you have a nice selection of high-end games to play alread — unlike Stadia, GeForce Now relies on your existing Steam and Epic game libraries to function. That said, the fact that the bill must be paid in one lump sum will likely turn off many prospective subscribers.
To entice you into joining the high-end plan now, Nvidia will give you a free copy of Crysis Remastered upon your first payment. It will be an Epic Games Store-redeemable key, delivered by email.
As hardware enthusiasts, we here at TechSpst would ordinarily advise our readers to assemble (or purchase) their own physical gaming rigs — the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks in most cases. However, in today’s hardware climate, where GPUs and CPUs are nearly impossible to acquire at a reasonable price, arguments against GeForce now become significantly weaker. If the alternative is gaming at horrendous resolutions or framerates, even Nvidia’s $10/month Priority plan could be a better deal; at least for the time being.