Chipmaker Nvidia Enters Crowded Field of Game Streaming Services

Nvidia Corp. powered on its GeForce NOW online computer gaming service, expanding the chipmaker’s connection to the growing video-gamer industry and putting it in competition with the some of the largest companies in technology.

The Santa Clara, California-based company, the biggest maker of chips used in personal computer graphics cards, is banking on the appeal of its technology among players to help attract customers away from rival gaming services run by Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Sony Corp. and Apple Inc.

Subscribers, after a free promotional period, will initially pay $4.99 a month to stream games from Nvidia-owned data centers, the company announced Tuesday in a blog post on their website. That computing over the internet is powered by the chipmaker’s highest-end graphics cards, meaning that even those connecting from old laptops, TV set-top boxes, Chromebooks and mobile phones will have access to high-definition gaming, Nvidia said. Its service is open, meaning consumers won’t have to buy multiple copies of games they already own. Titles they’ve bought elsewhere will be made available to play on Nvidia’s service.

“Your old laptop never gamed like this before,” said Phil Eisler who heads the company’s GeForce NOW. “That Mac, which for years has seen fewer games published for it or lost compatibility, can now play the latest games.”

While Android smartphones, PCs and Apple Inc.’s Mac computers will be able to connect, there isn’t a version of GeForce NOW for the iOS operating system that runs iPhones and iPads. Eisler declined to comment on why the service won’t work on those devices and referred questions to Apple.

For Nvidia, the new service is part of an effort to make sure its technology stays important amid industry shifts. While PC gaming is still a huge business -- $29.6 billion in 2019 -- mobile is now twice as large at $64 billion, according to market analysis by Nielsen. Nvidia’s bet is that giving consumers access to the most graphics-intensive gaming over the internet will keep them interested in titles where its technology excels. It’s also aimed at proving the worth of Nvidia’s chips in data centers where it’s trying to build market share. That might be more valuable than the service as a business, at least initially.