RTX 5080 Power Hits the Cloud
GeForce NOW is starting 2026 by looking back at a huge year for cloud gaming and by rolling out a fresh wave of games. The biggest upgrade of 2025 was the arrival of NVIDIA Blackwell RTX in the cloud, bringing RTX 5080 level performance to GeForce NOW Ultimate members.
This upgrade means that even if you do not own a high end gaming PC, you can still tap into features usually reserved for the latest desktop GPUs. Ultimate tier members now get access to DLSS 4 for improved performance and image quality, plus streaming at up to 5K resolution and 120 frames per second. For anyone chasing smooth gameplay and sharp visuals without buying new hardware, this is a serious step up.
Content creators and community members have been quick to notice the difference. Nads from Cloud&Console called the RTX 5080 announcement a real game changer for cloud gaming, thanks to those high frame rate 5K streams. Luna, a GeForce NOW Discord modder, highlighted how the Ultimate tier let her push demanding games like ARC Raiders and Dying Light: The Beast far beyond what her local machine could handle.
Throughout 2025, GeForce NOW also hosted day one cloud launches of big titles such as ARC Raiders and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. Players reported that fast paced games like Borderlands 4, Grounded and Battlefield 6 all ran smoothly over the cloud, delivering the kind of low latency experience usually associated with a powerful local rig.
For many gamers, cloud performance has been the difference between struggling through frame drops and actually enjoying competitive play. One player, Warwick, mentioned finally being able to stream and play Fortnite with friends easily through GeForce NOW, turning a frustrating setup into an actual advantage.
Play Anywhere With Steam Deck and Install to Play
2025 was also a big year for playing PC games literally anywhere. The native GeForce NOW app for Steam Deck helped transform Valve’s handheld into a portable cloud gaming machine. Instead of relying only on the Deck’s own hardware, you can stream more than 2,000 supported titles from platforms like Steam, Epic Games Store and Game Pass at GeForce RTX quality.
Channels like Anytime Anywhere Gaming praised how well ARC Raiders and other titles run on Steam Deck through GeForce NOW, calling it amazing to play at maximum visual fidelity on a handheld device. For gamers who want console like simplicity with PC library flexibility, this is a strong combo.
Another feature that expanded the library even further is Install to Play. Instead of waiting for every game to be directly onboarded in the usual way, Install to Play lets GeForce NOW spin up additional titles on demand. Creators like Cloudy With Games and RuDiggz pointed out how this breathes new life into indie favorites and lesser known games, making it easy to move from desktop to phone and keep playing on the go.
The key message from the community is that GeForce NOW Ultimate delivers maximum freedom and fidelity without hardware minimums. You do not need to own a monster GPU to crank settings up. The cloud does the heavy lifting while you enjoy high frame rates and high detail from almost any device.
Ultimate Contest Highlights and New Game Lineup
To celebrate the power of RTX 5080 in the cloud, GeForce NOW ran an Ultimate Contest where members shared their favorite cloud gaming moments. The top ten winners received two Ultimate Day Passes and one full year of Ultimate membership, underlining NVIDIA’s focus on showing what flagship cloud performance looks and feels like.
One standout submission from pfoglista captured how GeForce NOW Ultimate can feel just like playing on a local PC. Competitive gameplay, fast reactions and low input lag were key themes, proving that cloud latency is no longer the barrier it once was for many players with a solid connection.
Alongside the performance talk, there is plenty of new content to actually play. GeForce NOW is adding 14 titles to the cloud in January, with several available right away:
- My Winter Car on Steam
- Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden on Xbox and Game Pass
- The Casting of Frank Stone on Xbox and Game Pass
- Eternights on Epic Games Store
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 on Epic Games Store, labeled RTX 5080 ready
Factorio on Steam joins the list of RTX 5080 ready games as well, ideal for players who want super smooth performance even in complex simulation and factory builds.
The January lineup continues with more new releases hitting the cloud throughout the month, including:
- StarRupture on Steam
- Pathologic 3 on Steam
- Quarantine Zone: The Last Check on Steam
- MIO: Memories in Orbit on Steam and Xbox with Game Pass support
- Nova Roma on Steam
- Guild Wars: Reforged on Steam
- Mon Bazou on Steam
- Supermarket Simulator on Xbox with Game Pass
- Tavern Keeper on Steam
December was also packed. In addition to 30 previously announced games, an extra seven titles landed on GeForce NOW, including Fallout: New Vegas across Steam, Epic Games Store and Xbox, Monster Hunter Stories and Monster Hunter Stories 2, plus several indies like Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel, Pioner, RuneQuest: Warlords and Skate Story.
For PC gamers and cloud curious players alike, GeForce NOW’s recent upgrades mean you can treat almost any screen as a high end gaming PC. With RTX 5080 level performance in the cloud, DLSS 4, 5K 120 fps streaming and support for devices like Steam Deck, you have more ways than ever to enjoy modern games at high settings without constantly chasing new hardware.
Original article and image: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/geforce-now-thursday-january-2026/
