Cyberpunk 2077 will be playable via GeForce Now the moment it comes out on Steam, and that will include ray tracing support for subscribers.
Nvidia confirmed the news on the official forums for GeForce Now, following a few days after the debut of that gorgeous graphics card you can only win in a contest. Developer CD Projekt Red has not yet released the official system requirements for Cyberpunk 2077, but if it's anything like The Witcher 3, it will be able to push even high-end systems to provide truly gorgeous visuals.
GeForce Now is a game-streaming service, along the same basic lines of Google Stadia. Where it differs from Stadia is that you don't purchase games specifically for GeForce Now. Instead, the service links in with existing PC gaming platforms such as Steam and the Epic Games store, then allows you to stream the games you own there onto any PC. You can stream games for free, though if you pay for a GeForce Now Founders membership you can play for longer than an hour at a time and supported games will be able to use Nvidia's RTX ray tracing tech.
So let's say, purely hypothetically, that you would love to buy the best gaming PC with a luscious new GeForce card in time to play Cyberpunk 2077 but you might have to sell a few less-important organs to do it. Instead, you could sign up for GeForce Now and start playing the day it comes out, no assembly required.
You do need to drop about $60 bucks for a year-long subscription if you want to keep your Founders membership beyond the three-month trial. That said, I've done some quick back-of-envelope math here and found that I could cover just over, ah, 33 years of GeForce Now for the cash I'd like to drop on a new Cyberpunk-ready gaming PC. Hm. Hmm.
Well, Cyberpunk 2077 won't arrive - on consoles, PC, and GeForce Now - until September 17, so at least I still have plenty of time to weigh my irresponsible options.
See what else you could play soon (ideally without selling any organs) in our guide to the best upcoming games of 2020 and beyond.
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