NVIDIA GeForce NOW Memberships “Sold Out” Amid High Demand

Recently, most membership tiers of NVIDIA’s GeForce NOW, the popular game streaming service, have become unavailable for purchase. On the official membership page, the company has marked five of its eight plans as “sold out.” The remaining options include the 1-month Ultimate plan and the 6-month Performance and Ultimate plans, leaving fewer choices for prospective subscribers.

Why are memberships unavailable?

According to ComputerBase, NVIDIA attributes the “sold out” status to the overwhelming popularity and demand for GeForce NOW. The company reportedly limits new sign-ups to ensure server stability for existing users. Essentially, the demand has outpaced NVIDIA’s available resources, leading to a prioritization of current members and high-value subscriptions to maintain service quality.

This approach prevents potential disruptions caused by an influx of new subscribers, though it raises questions about why NVIDIA hasn’t expanded its server capacity to meet the growing demand. At the time of writing, NVIDIA has not provided details about its bandwidth constraints or timeline for resolving this issue.

Which memberships are affected?

The tiers that have been temporarily removed from availability include:

• Free tier: Ad-supported, 1-hour session lengths (1-month and 6-month plans)
• Performance tier: $9.99/month, 1440p resolution, 6-hour session lengths (6-month plan)
• Day Passes: Both the Performance and Ultimate Day Passes, which allow access to respective benefits for 24 hours

NVIDIA has not announced when these memberships will return, but given the rapid growth of the GeForce NOW user base, it could take some time before these plans are reinstated.

Ongoing challenges for GeForce NOW

This isn’t the first time NVIDIA has faced server strain with its GeForce NOW platform. For instance, in late 2022, the company introduced a 100-hour playtime cap for all new subscribers starting January 1, 2025. This cap applies even to users of the premium Ultimate tier, showing NVIDIA’s efforts to manage server load as demand continues to rise.

Despite these measures, the platform’s popularity keeps growing. With new games regularly being added and the planned release of a GeForce NOW Steam Deck app later this year, it’s clear that NVIDIA is working to expand its offerings. However, the current shortage of memberships indicates the company has yet to fully address its capacity challenges.

A golden opportunity for Xbox Cloud Gaming?

While NVIDIA works to manage GeForce NOW’s demand, its bandwidth issues present a significant opportunity for competitors like Xbox Cloud Gaming. Included with the $20/month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, Xbox Cloud Gaming — previously known as xCloud — allows users to stream hundreds of games from the Xbox Game Pass library across multiple devices.

Although Xbox Cloud Gaming is often criticized for its lower visual quality (NVIDIA’s servers are optimized for video encoding, while Microsoft’s rely on AMD hardware designed for consoles), it hasn’t faced the same capacity issues as GeForce NOW. This stability, combined with the recent launch of the “Stream Your Own Game” feature, which lets users stream games they already own outside of Xbox Game Pass, makes it an appealing alternative.

Adding to its appeal are high-value offers like this $28.49 3-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate deal at CDKeys, which allows subscribers to get three months of Game Pass Ultimate for less than the price of two. For gamers looking for a reliable game streaming service, Xbox Cloud Gaming is a strong contender, especially as NVIDIA prioritizes its existing customers and top-tier memberships.

What’s next?

As GeForce NOW continues to expand and attract more users, NVIDIA faces the challenge of scaling its infrastructure to meet demand. Server upgrades and newly implemented playtime caps may help alleviate the current issues, but only time will tell if these measures are enough to maintain the platform’s momentum. For now, potential subscribers will have to wait for memberships to reopen or explore alternatives like Xbox Cloud Gaming.

via Windows Central