Discord to let you try out Fortnite for free through Nvidia GeForce Now

The new feature, powered by GeForce Now, will let Discord users instantly try games like Fortnite without downloads or purchases, starting with a demo at Gamescom 2025

Nvidia has announced a partnership with Discord and Epic Games that will allow Discord users to try out video games without buying them, starting with Fortnite. The upcoming feature is powered by Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming platform, enabling gameplay directly within Discord without downloads or installation. A demo of this capability will be showcased to a select group of testers during Gamescom 2025, which begins on August 20 in Cologne, Germany.

 

In a video shared on Nvidia GeForce’s official YouTube channel, Discord co-founder Stanislav Vishnevskiy explained: “We've had a vision for players trying new games instantly inside of Discord, and GeForce Now has proven itself to be the leader in high-performance cloud gaming to make this possible. Demoing this with Fortnite is a great way for us to prove this concept out and create a compelling experience for players in the future, and we've been actively working with Nvidia to bring this new experience to life.”

 

For now, the feature will remain a demo, but Vishnevskiy confirmed that Discord is planning to expand the experience and will share more details in the near future.

 

As reported by The Verge, users will simply need to click a “try a game” button and connect their Epic Games account to begin playing directly from within Discord. The Fortnite demo will offer a free 30-minute trial, though the duration could change once the feature rolls out more widely.

Cloud gaming platforms have attempted similar approaches in the past. Gaikai, one of the earliest cloud gaming services later acquired by Sony in 2012, once offered instant trial gameplay for users. Sony had even explored extending such demos to the PlayStation 4, though the plan never reached consumers. More recently, Google’s Stadia allowed browser-based game demos before shutting down in 2023.