Earlier this year, Google announced the end of its efforts to run Steam on Chromebooks, but its attempt to make these low-powered laptops into gaming machines is far from over. Google has teamed up with Nvidia to offer a version of GeForce Now cloud streaming that’s limited in some ways and generous in others. Starting today, anyone who buys a Chromebook will get a free year of a new service called GeForce Now Fast Pass. There are no ads and short waits for server slots, but you don’t get a chance to play for very long.
Before Google shut down its Stadia game streaming service, it often bundled a Pro subscription for a few months with Chromebook purchases. In the absence of its own gaming platform, Google has turned to Nvidia to improve Chromebook gaming. GeForce Now (GFN), which has been around in some form or another for over a decade, allows you to render games on a remote server and stream the video output to a device of your choice. It works on computers, phones, TVs, and yes, Chromebooks.
The new Chromebook feature isn’t the same GeForce Now subscription you can get from Nvidia. Fast Pass, which is exclusive to Chromebooks, includes a mix of limitations and bonuses that makes it a very strange offering. Fast Pass is based on the free tier of GeForce Now, but users will get priority access to server slots. Therefore, there will be no need to stand in queue for five or 10 minutes to start the game. It also lacks the ads that are included in Nvidia’s standard free tier. Fast Pass also uses more powerful RTX servers, which are otherwise limited to the $10-per-month ($100 annually) performance tier.