Nvidia Is Removing GameStream From Shield Devices

Cloud streaming is the new obsession of the gaming world. Major companies like Amazon have invested in 4K media streaming devices and gaming behemoths like Microsoft plan to do the same. But, one company has been in the cloud streaming game for a long time and it is none other than Nvidia. 

The American company released its Shield devices in 2015 to stream games from PCs to TVs and other gadgets. It has been a huge success since its release but a major change is coming to its game streaming function. Nvidia has announced that GameStream will no longer be available in the Nvidia Games app on Shield devices.

Major Takeaways

• GameStream will no longer be available in the Nvidia Games app on Shield devices.
• An update in mid-February will remove the app permanently.
• Nvidia has redirected users to Steam Link and Nvidia GeForce Now to recreate its function.

Users like this ResetEra member heard this news through an email and then a service termination notice from the company itself regarding GameStream. From mid-February, Shield users will no longer be able to access the service from the Nvidia Games app. This will be done through a mandatory update of the app on Shield devices. 

Users of Shield devices can continue using the feature until then. But, players are not happy with this as GameStream allows players to stream their PC games on TV at 60 FPS and 4K. It’s a major selling point of Shield devices and the alternatives aren’t really growing on fans either.

Nvidia said in the service termination notice that players can use the Steam Link app. Shield users can replace GameStream with this app to stream their favorite games from PC to Shield TV. However, fans aren’t big fans as one user on ResetEra said “They say to just use Steam Link, but that really does not work as well.”

Although the app is basically the same as GameStream, the latter had more benefits. For example, GameStream allowed you to stream games that were not available on the Steam app manually. But, the Steam Link doesn’t allow you to do that without a hitch like GameStream.

For this particular feature, Nvidia has redirected fans to another one of their services in the termination notice. Players can use the GeForce Now cloud gaming service which is a paid application. It does work with Shield and Shield TV though and allows 4K streaming just like GameStream.

Nvidia has also said that you can’t get away with this by just not downloading the update. If you don’t update the Nvidia Games app, GameStream will work just like it normally does for a short while. However, it will eventually stop working and you also can’t use other Nvidia games app services like GeForce Now. 

So, players basically have to bow down to capitalism and switch to the alternatives Nvidia is giving. GameStream is also available on the Moonlight cloud streaming device, which is an open-source implementation of Shield. No one knows how this will affect GameStream on that service, so only time will tell.

In the Service termination notice, Nvidia also says that Nvidia share will work with Steam Link. Hence, even though it is sad to see such a resourceful feature get removed, Nvidia’s decision does make sense with Steam Link and Nvidia GeForce Now already on the market. Granted, you need both of them to do what GameStream did, but capitalism will always be capitalism.

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