Activision removes Battle.net support from GeForce Now

Activision Blizzard has removed its titles from Nvidia’s GeForce Now, just one week after the game streaming platform launched.

GeForce Now is the graphics firm’s cloud streaming service, which unlike rival Stadia allows users to access their existing digital game libraries from Steam and the Epic Games Store.

It also lets users play free-to-play titles such as Fortnite, League of Legends and Destiny 2, and does not require a paid subscription to use.

Hundreds of Steam and EGS titles are compatible with the service, however in a statement published on Wednesday Nvidia revealed that Activision Blizzard’s Battle.net games will no longer be available.

“Per their request, please be advised Activision Blizzard games will be removed from the service,” a spokesperson said. “While unfortunate, we hope to work together with Activision Blizzard to reenable these games and more in the future.

“In addition to the hundreds of games currently supported, we have over 1,500 games that developers have asked to be on-boarded to the service. Look for weekly updates as to new games we are adding.”

As pointed out by one user last year, cloud gaming services are explicitly against Battle.net’s terms of service.

Nvidia claims GeForce Now offers RTX 2080-level performance at 1080p resolution and 60fps, with ray-tracing supported in compatible titles.

The platform has a free tier that offers one hour of play at a time, while a one-year $4.99 monthly subscription service – which also includes a free 90-day introductory period – gives priority access to servers and allows play for up to six hours at a time.

In comparison, Google Stadia’s Pro subscription costs $9.99/£8.99 per month and while some titles are given away for free, users otherwise need to purchase games separately.

Sony’s PlayStation Now has a library of hundreds of legacy PlayStation games and costs around $9.99 / £8.99 for a month’s subscription, or $59.99 / £49.99 for a year.

Microsoft’s public preview of its Project xCloud game streaming service currently supports over 80 Xbox games.

Beginning later in 2020, xCloud players will be able to stream games they already own and Xbox also plans to add game streaming to its Xbox Game Pass service.