In the gaming industry, superpower industries are always working together to develop, promote and even host games for each other. And one very known duo is the GeForce-Nvidia whose relationship is clearly on the rocks. And we are here to get to the bottom of the matter.

The news

Recently, Activision Blizzard library of games just disappeared from the GeForce Now database soon after the game streaming service platform was officially launched. This came as a shock to many, and it was said that it was all Nvidia’s fault, which others termed it as a misunderstanding over the terms shared between the two firms.

GeForce Now platform operates in the sense that players do not have to buy an external GPU but instead, just builds a PC or get a gaming laptop to play a game on their database. They then fundamentally allow the user to pay to rent a powerful gaming PC that they can connect with remotely. And the player just spends cash purchasing the GeForce Now compatible games to access via the network. And the recent game reduction, gamers are shocked.

The worrying part is that Nvidia gave a vague reason as to why all the Activision Blizzard’s titles were eradicated from their service. They instead went with a shallow statement saying that it was “unfortunate” and that it was also “ per their request”. With these statements, no one can really point fingers with the uncertainty of who to blame.

On another set through Bloomberg, Nvidia voiced out that the reason for the shift was a misunderstanding. The disagreement was attributed to the prior agreement of Activision Blizzard, and GeForce Now which was allegedly only applicable on the initial post-launch trial period which was the first three months of activity. This simply means that the agreement was only short term.

These dealings were not taken well by the Activision Blizzard who wanted a better commercial arrangement before agreeing to proceed to the full-launch of GeForce Now. And so as a result, the publisher decided to pull the games from the service.

The repercussions

Well, subscribers of GeForce Now who had already signed up and bought games like Call of Duty, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and any other Activision Blizzard game has been hugely disadvantaged. The fact that they cannot use the games they have already paid for on GeForce Now is rather demoralizing. So much so, we expect a few complaints from such subscribers who might demand a refund or a switch. And if this is not handled efficiently, Nvidia might suffer a few social bashes from unhappy customers and the gaming industry at large.

In as much as this might be the result, most Activision Blizzard fans are still hopeful that the issue will be sorted as soon as possible. People and companies disagree now and then, and we hope this is one of those days.

Further statements

Well, there was a ray of sunshine on the matter when Nvidia first made a statement after the ordeal had occurred. They issued a statement saying that they hoped “to work together with Activision Blizzard to re-enable these games and more in the future”. Which is quite frankly, everyone’s wish.

They still went forward yet again on publishing on Bloomberg post saying, “Recognizing the misunderstanding, we removed games from our service, with the hope we can work with them to re-enable these, and more, in the future”. On this second statement, they were keen not to mention Activision Blizzard’s name, but we all know who they were referring to. Their comments were not so convincing going by the use of the term ‘hope’. If they had used the word ‘will’ we would have another story entirely. But who knows, hope might just do it. Time will tell.

Take away

Gamers and subscribers on GeForce Now, particularly fans of Activision Blizzard’s who are into games of all types, are hoping for the best. Undoutfully, this might put Nvidia’s reputation in the bad books. And if they would like to redeem themselves, they should either give a concrete reason or simply write up a whole new agreement with Activision Blizzard and re-enable their games. Time might not be on their side; they need to do something and fast.