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Nvidia's Cloud Gaming Service Loses Access to Activision Blizzard's Games

The decision to pull the games from the GeForce Now service doesn't bode well for the future of cloud gaming. But Nvidia is hopeful it'll one day restore access to Overwatch, StarCraft II and other games owned by Activision Blizzard.

Michael Kan
 & Michael Kan Principal Reporter

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Bad news for users of Nvidia’s cloud gaming service. GeForce Now is losing access to the popular games from Activision Blizzard, including Overwatch and StarCraft II. 

“Per their request, please be advised Activision Blizzard games will be removed from the service,” Nvidia posted in the company’s forums on Tuesday. “While unfortunate, we hope to work together with Activision Blizzard to reenable these games and more in the future.”

It’s a big loss for GeForce Now, which launched as a public release last week. The service enables you to stream PC games on a laptop, phone or TV via an internet connection, without the need to pay for the pricey gaming hardware.

One of the major advantages with Nvidia’s cloud gaming service is how you can play games you already own. GeForce Now does this by offering you access to an Nvidia server, which until today could be used to install games on your Blizzard account.

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Why Activision Blizzard suddenly decided to bail from the service is unclear. But today's forum post from Nvidia suggests the two companies still need to hammer out a business arrangement regarding GeForce Now.  

“In an ideal world, every game would be playable on GeForce Now, and that's the kind of world we're working toward,” Nvidia said in a separate forum post two months ago. “But the reality of the situation is that this is a new area in gaming: cloud streaming. There are both technical and business hurdles that must be cleared when we're bringing a game to the service.”

Related

On GeForce Now, other noticeable omissions include games from Capcom, Square Enix and Rockstar Games.  In the meantime, Nvidia's service still supports more than 500 other games available on Steam and the Epic Games store, including the Witcher 3 and Fortnite. GeForce Now is free, but if you want priority access to Nvidia’s cloud servers, you’ll need to pay a $4.99 monthly subscription fee.  Otherwise, you may end up waiting around for access to a cloud server. 

“In addition to the hundreds of games currently supported, we have over 1,500 games that developers have asked to be on-boarded to the service. Look for weekly updates as to new games we are adding,” Nvidia added in today's forum post.

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About Our Expert

Michael Kan

Michael Kan

Principal Reporter

My Experience

I've been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I'm currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country's technology sector.

Since 2020, I've covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I've combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink's cellular service.

I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.

I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I'm now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I'm always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.

The Best Tech I've Had:

  • My first video game console: a Nintendo Famicom
  • I loved my Sega Saturn despite PlayStation's popularity.
  • The iPod Video I received as a gift in college
  • Xbox 360 FTW
  • The Galaxy Nexus was the first smartphone I was proud to own.
  • The PC desktop I built in 2013, which still works to this day.

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