Nvidia is about to punish GeForce Now’s most active users

Nvidia has announced it is planning to meter GeForce Now gaming time with members exceeding 100 hours of playtime set to be charged an extra monthly fee.

GeForce Now provides gamers with access to a high-end GPU located in the cloud, rather then buying a an expensive gaming rig, in order to enjoy top quality games they have purchased through PC gaming stores like Steam.

It has proved a popular service and one of the appeals has been the unlimited gaming time subscribers paying customers get, albeit with limited session lengths.

In a blog post today, the graphics chip gurus said Performance and Ultimate members will be charged $2.99 and $5.99 a month respectively for an additional 15 hours of play time.

While Nvidia says the 100 hour limit will be more than enough for more than 9 in 10 of its subscribers, it does mean the most avid gamers are going to have to cut down or pay more. Nvidia is pitching this as a way to avoid price increases across the board.

The new limits will be enforced from January 1 2025 for new subscribers, but those who are subscribers on December 31 this year will get a year of grace.

In the post today, Nvidia says: At the start of next year, GeForce NOW will roll out a 100-hour monthly playtime allowance to continue providing exceptional quality and speed — as well as shorter queue times — for Performance and Ultimate members.

“This ample limit comfortably accommodates 94% of members, who typically enjoy the service well within this timeframe. Members can check out how much time they’ve spent in the cloud through their account portal (see screenshot example above).”

“Up to 15 hours of unused playtime will automatically roll over to the next month for members, and additional hours can be purchased at $2.99 for 15 additional hours of Performance, or $5.99 for 15 additional Ultimate hours.”

Are metered streaming services incoming?

Is metering access to streaming services a glimpse into the future? I understand that Nvidia’s GeForce Now overheads per user are perhaps higher than, say, Netflix’s because of the cost of running those cloud rigs, but this feels foreshadowing. Placing a limit on what are probably your most loyal users is a questionable tactic too. Why not let the 6% who’ll be affected run wild and place a limit on those paying nothing or less to access the services?

On the plus side, this might be better than the wholesale price increases we’re constantly seeing, almost across the board, with streaming services.