If you have a decent internet connection, the rise of cloud gaming platforms like Google Stadia and GeForce Now have left you with fewer reasons than ever to own dedicated gaming hardware. Not only does it end up being cheaper overall for everyone, but you can also play from anywhere you want, whether it's your old laptop or your brand-new smartphone, and still get the same game quality. Recently Nvidia announced it was bringing a super-high-end RTX 3080 tier to GeForce Now, allowing users willing to pay a premium to get access to the performance of a 3080 on its cloud games. Now Nvidia is slowly rolling out that 3080 tier to some lukcy users.
In its weekly GFN Thursday post, Nvidia announced that people who have pre-ordered an RTX 3080 membership should begin to gain access to their new "virtual graphics card" starting today for the first wave of users, and the rollout should continue over the course of the month. Nvidia is working with a pre-order modality here, meaning that those who are interested in getting upgraded resolutions and framerates on their GeForce Now games can pay $100 now for a six-month membership and will be given access at some point — pre-orders are still open, so if that's something you're keen to try, go to Nvidia's website and sign up now.
Of course, in order to take advantage of the full array of improvements having an RTX 3080 provides, you'll need a really good Internet connection, as it supports 1440p gaming and 120fps framerates. Even if you don't have a good enough connection for seeing all that, you should still witness some improvement — the beefier hardware offers lower latency, which translates to a smoother gaming experience.
With the arrival of Nvidia's RTX 3080 tier, Nvidia is also adding 17 new games to the platform. Starting this week, you'll be able to play Recipe For Disaster, Let’s Build a Zoo, Age of Darkness: Final Stand, and Road Redemption on GeForce Now, all of which are available on Steam. Through the course of the month, users will be getting access to 13 more games. These are:
- Bakery Simulator
- Bright Memory: Infinite
- Epic Chef
- Farming Simulator 22
- The Last Stand: Aftermath
- Core
- Ghostrunner
- Legion TD 2
- Lost Words: Beyond the Page
- MapleStory
- Severed Steel
- STORY OF SEASON: Pioneers of Olive Town
- Tale of Immortal
Most of these titles won't be benefitting much from all those extra frames you'll be getting out of your new cloud RTX 3080, but that doesn't mean you won't have fun playing.