In short: Nvidia’s efforts to promote GeForce Now brought the service to the Chrome browser, an application almost as ubiquitous as the Internet itself. Windows and macOS versions of the browser are supported in the latest beta version of GeForce Now 2.0.27, which also includes support for M1 Macs from within the dedicated macOS client.
The inclusion of Nvidia’s Apple M1 support is practical, and Apple’s rejection, which continues to ban game streaming services on the App Store, is just a bonus. But adding support for Chrome is (or at least appears to be) almost entirely an act of spite against Google, which operates its own game streaming service, Stadia, through Chrome.
That’s because the only platforms that support Chrome, but couldn’t run some form of GeForce Now, are Windows on Arm and Linux. The latter doesn’t even have official support, but “can work” according to Nvidia’s release notes.
But it is good that you can play on your GeForce Now account without having to download the client, if, for example, you are playing on a friend’s device. Or on your work or school computer, if not to download games.
The GeForce Now availability map is shown above. Green regions are supported and purple regions soon. The white dots are servants, and being closer and having more per person is better – meaning that the three people who live in the Australian desert will have the best gaming experience than anyone on the planet. Seriously, Nvidia, it’s not that difficult to look at a map of Australian cities.
Nvidia claims that the best performance is achieved through the dedicated client on Windows or macOS and will even ask you to download it when visiting the site if you are on any of the platforms. But, with the exception of the loss of some settings options and a small increase in latency in some games, users did not report any noticeable difference.
Nvidia is also adding new features to the service. A major problem is the ability to create desktop shortcuts for specific games. Click on a game to open the details options and select the shortcut to get the prompt. Also in the details options is a new shareable link that will take your friends to the GeForce Now page of the game you are playing.
Game streaming services like GeForce Now and Stadia are very relevant when it is difficult to buy new hardware and new games are difficult to run. It’s nice to see Nvidia improving theirs.