Cyberpunk 2077 confirmed for GeForce Now, will have ray tracing via the cloud

Enlarge / Nvidia recently announced a limited edition, sweepstakes-only version of its most expensive consumer-grade GPU. One day later, the company announced a way that PC gamers can enjoy its RTX perks without even buying a new GPU. (credit: Nvidia)

Thanks to Cyberpunk 2077's delay to September 2020, gamers have even longer to decide how they'll play this highly anticipated game. Existing consoles? The upcoming PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X? Various PC configurations?

We're still waiting for more details on the game's launch strategy (particularly on newer consoles), but one other option just got more interesting: playing this stylish, Keanu-tinged adventure over the cloud. We already knew Google Stadia would have the game in September, but now, Nvidia has confirmed it's coming on launch day to its own GeForce Now service as well. Meaning, you'll be able to buy the game on Steam, then stream its gameplay from one of Nvidia's servers.

On the surface, this availability seems similar to Google Stadia's offer. If you want to play the (presumably) demanding Cyberpunk 2077 at its "highest quality" settings when it launches and don't want to pony up for a newer console or PC, you can stream the game as rendered by a server farm and contend with a hit to latency-which we've found in our tests ranges from annoying to tolerable to downright unnoticeable. Even with a smidgen of button-tap lag and a hit to bandwidth caps, the results could be easier to stomach than the sticker price of a new piece of hardware.

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