Nvidia GeForce Now beta has 1 million gamers on waiting list
But Nvidia's game-streaming aspirations seem to extend beyond its own cloud gaming service.
Nvidia's GeForce Now (GFN), which has been in beta on the PC and Mac, is one of the most eagerly awaited of the cloud-gaming services; moreso than even Google's Project Stream, because we've experienced it firsthand for over a year. Today, the CEO delivered some interesting updates about the status at his keynote for the company's Graphics Technology Conference, notably that it currently has 300,000 users and that there are a million more waiting to be accepted into the beta program.
If you're already in the program, take heart: the company also announced its data center strategy, which includes RTX servers. Those are destined to replace the Tesla P40-based systems currently powering GeForce Now, which should deliver better performance -- higher frame rates! 4K! -- as well as better scalability.
It also announced a software developer's kit for GFN which will enable single sign-on, as well as provide developers with the ability to streamline launchers and installs on the platform. Plus, it's working on wireless cloud-based VR with HTC and 5G infrastructure.
But the company's expansion plans, via its GeForce Now Alliance partnerships, sounds like more than just growing internationally beyond the 15 data centers currently in North America and western Europe. (The first partners are Softbank and LG Uplus for rollouts in Japan and Korea in 2019.)
The way CEO Jensen Huang was talking, it sounded like the company is more interested in enabling and hosting the architecture that will enable other companies to deliver their own, custom GeForce Now-type options. In other words, you'd subscribe via your internet or cell service provider rather than through Nvidia. That would explain why it hasn't already launched, as well.
Just a thought.
