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Nvidia GeForce Now for India Hands On: Built to Impress

Nvidia GeForce Now for India Hands-On: Built to Impress

We got early access to try out Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service and here’s how it went.

Written by Sheldon Pinto, Edited by Ketan Pratap | Updated: 10 February 2026 22:49 IST

Nvidia GeForce Now for India Hands-On: Built to Impress

Photo Credit: Nvidia

Nvidia has not revealed a specific launch date nor pricing for India

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Highlights

Claims to offer RTX 5080-like graphics quality
Minimal latency for a cloud gaming service
Let’s you play games from your own library as well

Nvidia's GeForce Now has been in service for about 10 years. The platform has seen many improvements since then and has spread globally over the years. And finally, it is now making its way to India. For those not in the know, the cloud gaming service lets you stream games to a device of your choosing. This can be a basic smartphone, a smart TV, a tablet, a basic work laptop or even a Mac. All you need to run the service is the app (now also available for Linux) and a controller. In fact, the GeForce Now app even offers a controller overlay (for touchscreen devices) if you don't have one with you. While it sounds like a great idea, it has taken Nvidia a while to reach India. I was lucky enough to try out the service in a semi-controlled environment, and here's how it went.

Tiers and estimated pricing

For those in the know, Nvidia's GeForce Now cloud gaming service will compete with Microsoft's recently launched Xbox Cloud Gaming service. At the moment, Microsoft in India offers an Essential tier at Rs. 499 per month that gets you access to 50 games on supported devices (handhelds, consoles, smartphones, tablets and PCs) along with the basics like the ability to stream select games you have officially purchased from the store. Then there's the Premium tier at Rs. 699 with 200+ games, the basics and access to the new Xbox published games within 12 months (of launch). The Ultimate tier gets you 400+ games and new games on day one.

RTX 5080 titles joining GeForce Now this year
Photo Credit: Gadgets 360

In comparison, Nvidia GeForce Now feels less restricted. Globally, there's a Free tier that provides 1-hour gaming sessions with ads. Streaming is limited to 1080p/60 fps, and the game basically renders RTX 3050-class quality. Next up is a Performance tier at $9.99 per month, getting subscribers access to 6-hour sessions at 1440p streaming with RTX 3060-class quality. Also thrown in is Ray Tracing, HDR and 5.1 surround sound. Lastly, is the Ultimate tier, which is what I experienced at the GeForce Now demo zone in Mumbai. Priced at $19.99 per month, it offers 8-hour gaming sessions with RTX 4080-class graphics at 4K/240 fps or RTX 5080-class graphics at 5K/120 fps. The top tier also gets access to 7.1 surround sound, DLSS 3 frame generation, Nvidia Reflex cloud technology and Cloud G-Sync. Save for the Free tier, subscribers will get access to Ready-to-Play and Install-to-Play games, including a library of around 4,000 titles.

Xbox Cloud Gaming Launched in India: Here's How You Can Start Playing

Since the service has not launched yet, Nvidia has not provided any details on India pricing, but we expect it to be competitive or on par with Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Gaming tiers.

The gaming experience

Unfortunately, the demo zone already had everything set up, so we weren't shown the setup process, which can be a bit complex given that you can connect to Steam libraries and install on demand. Nvidia's GeForce Now demo zone was set up to showcase the fact that you don't need powerful underlying hardware to play games via a cloud gaming service. During the briefing, we were told that a 50Mbps connection should be sufficient for 4K streaming.

Hollow Knight: SilkSong on an iPhone 13
Photo Credit: Nvidia

The gaming experience was impressive. For starters, I tried out Playground's Forza Horizon 5, which worked beautifully on a rather outdated OnePlus 10T. It was set up with an Xbox controller for ease of use. I played a few races and did not notice a single skipped or dropped frame while doing so. In fact, I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't playing the game on the phone but via a cloud gaming service. Also available was an iPhone 13 with Hollow Knight: SilkSong on demo, which, as expected, also worked flawlessly.

Hogwarts Legacy on an Apple iPad Pro
Photo Credit: Gadgets 360

Hogwarts: Legacy demoed on an Apple iPad Pro offered smooth 60 fps gameplay with about a 2-4ms ping. CyberPunk 2077 on a basic Dell Latitude 7420 was a bit overkill, given that the service was rendering the game at 110 fps with a 3ms ping with impressive quality. I also used a Steam Deck to play Resident Evil: Biohazard, which, as expected, had no problems running the game.

The Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 demo setup
Photo Credit: Nvidia

The highlight of the demo zone was the Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 demo, which had two gaming PCs placed side-by-side. One of them was running the game locally on an RTX 5080-enabled gaming PC, while the other was a dummy running the game via the GeForce Now service. Without the performance indicators, it was hard to tell the difference between them, both in terms of quality and frame rate.

No, it's not out yet!

Nvidia did not confirm any details about a specific launch date for its cloud gaming service in India. But a previous release did hint at a 2026 Q1 release, and Nvidia's John Gillooly (Senior Technical Marketing Manager) did confirm that they are on track to meet that timeline.

Nvidia's John Gillooly, Senior Technical Marketing Manager, APAC South
Photo Credit: Nvidia

Given that I did try out Nvidia's GeForce Now service in a semi-controlled environment, I cannot claim that the game streaming service works perfectly on any home broadband, or an established fibre network, from a big-name ISP. Nvidia also confirmed that it currently has no plans to work with any ISP in particular and that it has set up its service in such a manner that it does not need any special tie-ups with local players. Regardless, we were told that the games in our demo zone were being streamed from the Bombay (India) servers, which were not in the hotel we were in. So, I can say that we did experience the power of Nvidia's regional servers, not a locally placed server in the vicinity.

Who is it for?

And all of this begged the question about whom such a cloud gaming service caters to? Given the free tier available globally, we can consider Nvidia's GeForce Now service a gateway drug for those who have been holding back from starting to game. It reduces the need to personally own, invest in, and keep spending on upgrading PC hardware, which, as we are currently witnessing, is getting pricier due to the memory crisis. The service even makes sense for those who own handheld consoles like the Steam Deck. While you can play Deck-Verified titles smoothly at medium or low graphics settings, getting access to RTX 4080 or 5080's computing power will surely let you try out AAA titles at their best graphics settings in the comfort of your cosy couch. And of course, you can plug the service into a smart TV and enjoy the same title in 4K or 5K on a massive display as well.

While the elephant in the room still remains the limits of your ISP, the demo proved that Nvidia is ready to deliver the goods. It gave us a solid glimpse into what's possible. And boy! Was I impressed!

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Further reading: Nvidia, Nvidia GeForce Now, Nvidia GeForce Now game streaming, Nvidia GeForce Now in India, Nvidia GeForce Now launch, Nvidia GeForce Now price, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080

Sheldon Pinto

Email Sheldon Pinto

Sheldon Pinto is based in Mumbai, and has several years of experience in reviewing smartphones and gadgets. As a Senior Reviewer at Gadgets 360, you will always find him deeply immersed in his reviews, switching from one phone to another. When the battery dies out, Sheldon is always browsing the web for a good sci-fi movie or reading up on cars and bikes. He also loves creating lists of interesting places to eat and travel. Sheldon is available on Twitter at @shellshocd, and you can mail him at ...More