Nvidia pushes GeForce NOW cloud gaming's India launch to Q1, 2026: Details

The Nvidia GeForce NOW India release has been pushed to early 2026, with the company stating that the service cannot go live yet because its dedicated on-ground servers are still being built

Nvidia has delayed the launch of GeForce NOW, its cloud gaming service, in India to the first quarter of 2026. Earlier, the service was expected to go live in India by the end of November. However, the company has now issued a statement saying that it will be delayed as servers are currently being built in India. This news comes on the heels of Microsoft's Xbox bringing its cloud gaming service to India earlier this month.

 

Nvidia’s infrastructure push is designed to tackle cloud gaming’s core issue, which is latency. By placing its servers within India, instead of relying on far-off international data centres, the company will attempt to deliver smoother, more responsive gameplay and high-quality streaming, even for heavy AAA titles that typically suffer from delays on foreign routes, reported Gadgets Now.

Nvidia GeForce Now India launch delay

This delay continues a pattern of missed deadlines. Nvidia first teased GeForce Now's India launch at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025 in January, promising availability in the first half of the year. By August's Gamescom, that shifted to "later this year," then November, and now Q1 2026.

 

Now, the launch timeline of 2026 Q1 is also not confirmed as the company said, “We now anticipate the service will go live during the first quarter of 2026.” If further delays happen, then it is likely that the India launch will be pushed further. For now, the Nvidia GeForce Now website is live in India, and users can register for the same to stay updated on the launch.

 

For the unaware, the Nvidia GeForce NOW offers three subscription tiers: Ultimate, Performance, and Free. Here are the details of each offering: 

Ultimate (GeForce RTX 4080 and GeForce RTX 5080)

• Access to 4,000+ games
• Supports 8-hour gaming sessions
• Delivers up to 4K resolution on the 4080 tier and up to 5K on the 5080 tier
• Offers frame rates up to 240 FPS on 4080 and up to 360 FPS on 5080
• Features HDR10 and SDR10
• Provides top-tier queue priority
• Comes with 16 virtual CPU cores and 56GB RAM
• Supports ultrawide displays
• Enables DLSS 3 with Frame Generation on 4080 and DLSS 4 with Frame Generation on 5080
• Includes Nvidia RTX Ray Tracing, Cloud G-Sync, Nvidia Reflex, plus 5.1/7.1 surround sound output.

Performance

• Offers access to more than 4,000 games
• 6-hour session limits
• Display output up to 1440p (2K), frame rates up to 60 FPS
• HDR10 and SDR10 support
• Elevated queue priority
• 8 virtual CPU cores with 28GB RAM
• Nvidia RTX Ray Tracing, ultrawide display compatibility, and 5.1/7.1 surround sound support

Free (Ad-supported)

• Provides access to 2,000+ titles
• 1-hour session duration
• Up to 1080p (FHD) resolution, up to 60 FPS
• Includes 4 virtual CPU cores paired with 14GB RAM

Nvidia has not yet disclosed the Indian pricing for any of these plans. It is possible that the company may announce it along with the launch. 

Nvidia GeForce NOW Vs Xbox Cloud Gaming

The key differences between Nvidia GeForce NOW and Xbox Cloud Gaming come down to game ownership and performance quality. GeForce NOW works on a bring-your-own-library model, allowing you to stream the games you already own on platforms like Steam, Epic Games Store, or Ubisoft Connect. In contrast, Xbox Cloud Gaming is tied to the Game Pass ecosystem, where you access a rotating catalogue of titles through your subscription rather than owning them individually. 

 

On the performance front, GeForce NOW delivers far higher streaming quality, offering 4K or even 5K output, extremely high frame rates on top-tier plans, and advanced features such as ray tracing. Xbox Cloud Gaming, by comparison, typically streams games at 1080p and 60 FPS, focusing more on accessibility than raw graphical power.