Following news that a number of prolific publishers have withdrawn their games from Nvidia’s GeForce Now streaming service, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney says the company will continue “wholeheartedly supporting” it.
Only a few weeks ago MCV/Develop reported how a “misunderstanding” between Nvidia and Activision resulted in all Activision games being pulled from GeForce Now, along with Bethesda and – most recently – 2K. But Epic Games seemingly has no plans to follow suit and withdraw the service’s most popular game, Fortnite.
Epic is wholeheartedly supporting NVIDIA’s GeForce NOW service with Fortnite and with Epic Games Store titles that choose to participate (including exclusives), and we’ll be improving the integration over time.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) March 7, 2020
“Epic is wholeheartedly supporting NVIDIA’s GeForce Now service with Fortnite and with Epic Games Store titles that choose to participate (including exclusives), and we’ll be improving the integration over time,” Sweeney announced on Twitter. “It’s the most developer-friendly and publisher-friendly of the major streaming services, with zero tax on game revenue. Game companies who want to move the game industry towards a healthier state for everyone should be supporting this kind of service!
“Cloud streaming services will also be key players in ending the iOS and Google Play payment monopolies and their 30 per cent taxes,” Sweeney added. “Apple has decreed that these services aren’t allowed to exist on iOS, and therefore aren’t allowed to compete, which is megalomaniacal and won’t stand.
“Just waiting till later this year when Google is lobbying against Apple for blocking Stadia from iOS, while Google blocks GeForce NOW, xCloud, and Fortnite from Google Play, and this whole rotten structure begins collapsing in on itself.”
GeForce Now, Nvidia’s new cloud gaming service, came out of limited beta a few weeks ago. As all 300,000 beta users transition across to a free membership tier, the company also announced plans to introduce $5/£4 premium membership – a special introductory price guaranteed for the remainder of 2020 – that offers the first three months for free. Players can also keep playing the games they already own and continue building libraries from the same stores you already use every day due to GeForce Now’s open platform.
Following numerous complaints from players, the company has since prepared a Q&A addressing why games are being pulled post-launch.
“Games on GeForce Now can come down temporarily while we perform maintenance, or indefinitely at a partner’s request,” the company explained. “Some publishers may choose to remove games before the Founders trial period ends. Ultimately, they maintain control over their content and decide whether the game you purchase includes the ability to stream it on GeForce Now.
“Countless developers and publishers are running with the opportunity to expand the number of gamers who can play their games by using GeForce Now. We have hundreds of thousands of members playing their favourite games on GeForce Now,” Nvidia added. “We support the top free-to-play games like Fortnite, League of Legends, Warframe, and more. We just announced Cyberpunk 2077 will be available on GeForce Now the day it’s released, with ray tracing enabled. And there are plenty more that we’re working to onboard as quickly as possible, including new additions next week.”
