Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launches on October 25, and the game will be available to stream on day one through Nvidia’s GeForce Now streaming service.
Nvidia has confirmed that Black Ops 6 is among the supported titles for GeForce Now in October. People who buy the game outright on Steam or Battle.net can stream it through GeForce Now at launch.
This is in keeping with tradition for Activision and Nvidia, as 2023’s Modern Warfare III also streamed through GeForce Now, as did the Black Ops 6 multiplayer beta earlier this year. Call of Duty: Warzone is also available to stream through GeForce Now.
When Microsoft was in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard, one of the sticking points was cloud-gaming rights. To appease regulators, Microsoft worked out a deal with Nvidia (and others) to bring future titles like Black Ops 6 to streaming services beyond Microsoft’s own Xbox cloud gaming. Speaking of which, Microsoft is yet to confirm if Black Ops 6 will be available on Xbox cloud gaming.
What is GeForce Now?
GeForce Now is Nvidia’s game-streaming service, and it’s available throughout North America and Europe. Instead of needing a beefy rig or game console to play games locally, GeForce Now streams games from a powerful PC at Nvidia’s server farm, running on GeForce RTX 4080 SuperPODs. Nvidia says those who subscribe to the highest, most expensive tier ($20/month) will get the best frame rates and visual fidelity, including ray-tracing. According to Nvidia, the experience is indistinguishable from playing locally–but of course that depends on the quality and consistency of your internet connection.
How to play Black Ops 6 on GeForce Now
First, you must own a copy of Black Ops 6 on Steam or Battle.net. Then, you’ll need to sign up for a GeForce Now plan and link your account. The cheapest plan is free, but it limits you to one hour of game time per day, has ads, and streams your game from a basic rig. The Priority membership ($10/month) gets you a premium rig with RTX on, priority access to servers, six hours of game time per day, up to 1080p/60fps, and no ads. Then there is the Ultimate package ($20/month) that streams from a RTX 4080 rig with exclusive access to 4080 servers, eight hours of daily game time, up to 4K/240fps, and no ads.
There are also Priority and Ultimate day passes available for $4 and $8, respectively.
Is Nvidia GeForce Now actually a good experience?
Given game-streaming technologies are relatively new, many might be wondering if GeForce Now is actually a good way to play Black Ops 6 or any of the other 1,500+ supported games. Reviews from sites like PC Mag, IGN, and PC World are very positive about the service. Of course, though, your mileage may vary. You can see the hardware and internet speed requirements below, as shared by Nvidia.
Hardware Requirements
A 64-bit version of Windows 7 or later (32-bit versions of Windows are not supported)Dual core x86 or x64 CPU at 2.0GHz or faster4GB of system memoryGPU that supports DirectX 11 or later
Internet Requirements
15 Mbps for HD resolutions at up to 60 FPS (e.g. 1280×720)25 Mbps for FHD resolutions at 60 FPS (e.g. 1920×1080)35 Mbps for UW QHD & QHD resolutions at 120 FPS (e.g. 3840×1440 or 2560×1440)45 Mbps for 4K resolutions at 120 FPS (e.g. 3840×2160)
Nvidia said it recommends a hardwired Ethernet connection or a router with a 5 GHz WiFi connection for the best results. Also worth noting is that GeForce Now will only work for you if there is less than 80ms of network latency between you and a Nvidia data center. Here’s how to test your network for GeForce Now.
On the control side, Nvidia said it recommends a USB gaming mouse for the best experience. GeForce Now also supports Xbox and PlayStation controllers, along with a range of other gamepads.
For more, check out everything we know about Black Ops 6.
