Having this gaming subscription feels like a secret weapon, and now it's available on Steam OS

If you have a Steam Deck or are considering getting one instead of a Nintendo Switch 2, it has just gained significantly more capability thanks to Nvidia.

Nvidia has announced that its cloud gaming app, GeForce Now, is now available for the Steam Deck. At CES 2025, Nvidia stated this was in development, and just a week before the Switch 2’s launch, it has officially released it for all Steam Deck owners.

This is a major announcement because it means Steam Deck users can now stream over 2,000 games at 4K 60FPS through GeForce Now, from various PC platforms, including Steam, Epic Games, Xbox, and more.

Here’s everything you need to know about GeForce Now and the associated caveats.

Developer

Nvidia

Subscription cost

Yes

Offline downloads

No

Free trial

Yes

GeForce Now is Nvidia’s cloud gaming platform. It lets users play games with RTX-powered cloud gaming PCs.

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What is Nvidia GeForce Now?

It lets you stream games from the cloud using powerful Nvidia hardware

If you’re not familiar with Nvidia GeForce Now, it’s a cloud gaming platform that enables players to stream games from the cloud using Nvidia’s high-end PC hardware on their devices.

This means that a Steam Deck (or any other supported device) can be transformed into a powerful gaming PC using cloud technology. As a result, games on GeForce Now can run at up to 4K 60 FPS, regardless of the device’s power, since all processing is handled in the cloud through a virtual PC, rather than natively on the device.

While the Steam Deck is a capable portable gaming handheld, it struggles to run some of the latest games, like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, at higher settings and respectable frame rates due to its limited hardware. That’s why a service like GeForce Now can be helpful, as it eliminates those barriers and allows people to play any game they want on their device, without being constrained by hardware limitations.

By running GeForce Now on your Steam Deck, it does all the work through the cloud and outputs it to your Steam Deck’s display, without the Deck’s hardware being overly utilized. Nvidia claims because of this, Steam Deck users will experience “50 percent longer battery life when streaming from an RTX gaming rig in the cloud.” One major caveat to all this is that you need a strong internet connection to stream games from GeForce Now. If you’re playing at home, this may not be a problem, but if you’re out and about or traveling, it can easily become one.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that if you want the absolute best experience from Nvidia GeForce Now, you’ll need to pay.

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You can play GeForce Now for free at 1080p

1440p and 4K will cost you

Nvidia

GeForce Now has three different plans available to players: Free, Performance, and Ultimate.

The Free plan, as the name suggests, doesn’t cost anything and allows users to try out GeForce Now. However, being free comes with some significant limitations, such as a resolution limit of 1080P at 60 FPS, the presence of advertisements, and a session duration of only one hour before it resets. The virtual PC that runs the games also lacks power compared to the higher-tier options.

The Performance Plan, which costs $10 a month or $50 every six months, is the mid-tier option and offers better performance than the free plan, allowing users to play games at up to 1440p at 60 FPS without ads. This plan also supports ultra-wide monitors and RTX ray tracing in games. Users receive 100 hours of playtime per month with this plan, along with six hours of playtime per session.

Nvidia / Bethesda

The highest-tier plan Nvidia offers for GeForce Now is called Ultimate, and it features the most powerful virtual PC, equipped with an RTX 4080 and a 16-core CPU, for $20 a month or $100 every six months. It can run games at up to 4K at 240 FPS, showcasing all of Nvidia’s graphical fidelity and performance enhancements, such as DLSS Frame Generation, Nvidia Reflex, and Nvidia G-Sync. If your display supports it, this plan also provides HDR and HDR10 support. Similar to the Performance Plan, it allows for 100 hours of playtime per month, but with eight hours of playtime available per session.

Depending on the plan you choose, it can potentially upgrade your Steam Deck into a much more powerful portable gaming device. However, as I mentioned earlier, a good internet connection is necessary to achieve the best experience with cloud gaming, so keep that in mind. If you frequently use your Steam Deck at home, then GeForce Now may be worth considering. However, if you’re often away from home with your Steam Deck and may not have access to a strong internet connection, it might not perform optimally.

If you want to give GeForce Experience a try on your Steam Deck, you can download it from Nvidia’s website and test any of the games you own on it. Just be sure to select the Steam Deck option and follow the on-screen instructions when you go to install it. I recommend watching the video below, as it provides a great overview of how to set it up correctly. If you don’t have a Steam Deck, GeForce Now is available to try on Windows, Mac, and Android. You can also play it on iOS, but only through the Safari browser, not its dedicated app.

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