Nvidia isn’t getting a lot of sympathy from PC gamers these days, but I begrudgingly admit that GeForce Now is still pretty great. The game streaming service leans on your existing library from Steam and other PC storefronts instead of making you buy games separately or rely on a licensed library. Its newest home? Amazon Fire TV devices.
Fire TV is a bit of a broad term, applying both to the Fire TV Stick streaming devices as well as Amazon’s smart TVs that just happen to run on Amazon’s Fire OS. Most of the apps that run on the Android-based platform are fairly agnostic, but not GeForce Now. According to the announcement, the app only works with the following hardware:
- Fire TV Stick 4K Plus (2nd Gen)
- Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Gen)
- Fire TV Stick 4K Max (1st Gen) [no longer being sold]
It’s also fairly limited even on these devices, maxing out at 1080p and 60 frames per second. HDR and surround sound are not supported. That’s a far cry from GeForce Now’s maximum on PCs, going up to 5K resolution and 240 FPS at the Ultimate tier.
I’m guessing a lot of these limitations are due to the hardware, as these Fire TV Sticks are designed to be cheap ways to stream Amazon advertisements TV apps, not premium set-top boxes (like Nvidia’s own Shield). Even so, it’s nice to see availability expand, if slowly.
GeForce Now is available on the web in most desktop browsers; as dedicated apps on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android; via some workarounds on iPhones and iPads; and on the Steam Deck and other gaming handhelds. It’s also available on Android TV devices, plus LG and Samsung smart TV platforms.