GeForce Now is Nvidia’s game streaming platform, built to play Windows-based PC games on the cloud across desktop and mobile platforms. Nvidia just released a new update for the GeForce Now service, which includes an M1-native Mac app.
GeForce Now has been available in web browsers for a few months now (many of which are M1-native), similar to Google Stadia or Amazon Luna, but the native GeForce Now application has always been the best way to use the service. Nvidia said on Thursday, “the newest update to the cloud enables the GeForce NOW macOS app to natively support the Apple M1 chip. This update provides lower power consumption, faster app startup times and an overall elevated GeForce NOW experience on M1-based MacBooks, iMacs and Mac Minis.”
Besides the Mac-specific changes, the GeForce Now app has a new Genre row at the bottom of the Games menu, which might help you sort through your game collection. There’s also an improved Streaming Statistics Overlay that includes FPS data on the server side — not just what you get on your machine. That might be helpful for figuring out if your poor game performance is due to your network connection or the actual game.
Nvidia has also added 14 more games to the service, including Dune: Spice Wars, Holomento, Galactic Civilizations II: Ultimate Edition, SOL CRESTA, and Romans: Age of Caesar. The most notable addition is probably Lost Ark, the online action role-playing game published by Amazon Games back in 2019.
GeForce Now was in the news earlier this year for adding Fortnite as a supported title, and since GeForce Now is accessible on iOS devices through Safari, the new support technically brought Fortnite back to iPhones and iPads. The game was initially pulled from the App Store after Epic Games circumvented Apple’s revenue cut for in-app purchases, and the native version won’t come back anytime soon (if ever).
