Nvidia GeForce Now has just received three very welcome updates at CES 2026, including one that is clearly a glancing blow to the Steam Machine. Think of them as the company offering more of the same, and expanding the ways you can play (in particular for Linux users).
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That’s right. Team Green’s console killer is coming for Valve with native Linux support, alongside improved peripheral support and Amazon Fire TV support to boot.
The Nvidia GeForce Now RTX 5080 refresher
As you can tell from my video review of the new version of GeForce Now that dropped at Gamescom 2025, I’m quite a fan, and the global rollout is now complete.
With up to 5K 120 FPS gameplay, HDR and DLSS 4 on any device (throw in cinematic quality streaming) — all made possible with not just new gaming hardware components but better optimized cloud servers — it’s my go-to cloud service over anything else like Amazon Luna or Xbox Cloud Gaming.
A battle on two fronts
In that video above, I talk about how GeForce Now is coming to kill console gaming and the traditional PC… Yes, I’m being a little dramatic, but what’s a little showbiz between friends, right!?
Well, Nvidia is continuing that onward march with native Amazon Fire TV support and peripheral support expansion beyond Logitech wheel + pedals to full-blown flight sim sticks. But a new competitor has entered the chat — the Steam Machine, and Nvidia is planning to be there, too.
Three words: native Linux support. So far, GeForce Now has been an app you had to go into Steam Deck’s desktop mode to get, but now it’s a full-blown native client that can be used across any Linux system.
Possibly the best value way to game in the future?
RAM prices are exploding, but you knew that already. This is having a marked impact on gaming PC and laptop prices, which means it could very well become the case that cloud gaming services like GeForce Now at $19.99 for the Ultimate tier become the best value way to play.
And when I say that, it pains me a little. I love to see Nvidia GeForce Now as my alternate gaming option away from home. But given the skyrocketing costs, a monthly cloud gaming subscription may be the default.
But what a good default this is in that case. Again, I’m not litigating game ownership vs access to play them — I’m purely looking at this from a dollars and cents perspective, and until those RAM costs come under control, cloud gaming could be the fill-in for those looking to get into PC gaming on the cheap.
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