Cloud gaming is getting more and more competitive, and that’s nowhere near a bad thing. Competition pushes services like GeForce Now and Xbox Game Pass to step it up a notch and offer something better than they ever have. This week, GeForce Now announced improvements to in-browser gameplay with 1440p resolution and higher framerates. On top of that, Xbox Game Pass has unveiled the newest cloud titles coming your way.
Bandwidth is 9to5Google’s weekly look at the cloud gaming market beyond Google’s own Stadia platform. Every Friday, we take a look at the biggest news regarding services such as Nvidia GeForce Now, Amazon Luna, PlayStation Now, and Xbox Game Pass, among others. Come back weekly, and don’t forget to check out Stadia Changelog, our weekly roundup of everything new on Stadia.
GeForce Now gains 1440p in-browser play
GeForce Now has always been one of our top picks for cloud gaming; you can achieve some fantastic gameplay without spending hundreds or thousands on equipment. The only money you spend is on the games themselves and an active subscription.
Up until this point, the best experience was always had when playing through GeForce Now’s native apps, whether on Android, PC, Chromebooks, or iOS. Possibly one of the best gaming experiences is through an Nvidia SHIELD with Android TV.
This week, GeForce now added enhanced support for gamers who like to play in their own browser. Starting now, GeForce Now users can get up to 1440p resolution and 120 frames per second – something previously unheard of for cloud gaming through browsers. Nvidia states this new feature is supported in Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge to play on play.geforcenow.com. You’ll have to head into the settings and enable these new improvements manually.
On top of that, GeForce Now is bringing these new games to the cloud this week:
- Thymesia (New release on Steam)
- Century: Age of Ashes (Steam)
- Clanfolk (Steam)
- Coromon (Steam)
- HYPERCHARGE: Unboxed (Steam)
- Phoenix Point (Epic Games Store)
Xbox unveils newest Game Pass titles
Xbox is still building what is turning out to be one of the best game streaming services out there. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate offers tons of fun titles for play both on PC and in the cloud. In essence, you can take your library anywhere you want and still opt to use a powerful PC if you wanted to.
To add to that huge listing of games, Xbox is unveiling a few new titles for release throughout the rest of August. First on the list is Coffee Talk, which is available now to play on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Coffee Talk is a unique simulator that combines chill vibes and heart-to-heart conversations with “alternative-Seattle” residents.
From a dramatic love story between an elf and a succubus to an alien trying to understand the lives of humans, help everyone you meet by serving up a warm drink or two.
Another huge title coming is Immortals Fenyx Rising, where you play as Fenyx on a quest to save the Greek gods. This title will get to Game Pass on August 30.
On top of that, Xbox has these games to offer this month:
- Midnight Fight Express – August 23
- Commando 3 – August 30
- Immortality – August 30
Netflix looks to be working on cloud gaming
Netflix rumored the possibility of stepping into cloud gaming last year, though the company set its sights on something a little more attainable with mobile gaming through the service’s wide reach. Now, it looks like Netflix is starting to gather a team of engineers and staff to build out a new cloud gaming service.
According to a few new job listings from the company, Netflix is looking to fill in a few positions. For one, Netflix needs a rendering engineer to handle support for the new cloud-based service. Another position needing an employee is a security product manager. They’ll deal with “gaming challenges, threat vectors, and client requirements.”
If all goes well, Netflix might have a full-fledged cloud gaming service up and running soon. We’re not sure of the details, including how the service will be implemented and if it will be treated as an add-on to the existing media streaming category. What we do know is that the cloud gaming industry is getting more and more attention, which should lead to even better performance in the years to come – much like GeForce Now’s in-browser improvement to 1440p and so on.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments