Nvidia Kills Off GameStream Feature On Shield Devices

[CyberneticTitan]

Summary

Nvidia is removing GameStream from their SHIELD devices in February 2023. They are recommending users to transition to Steam Link instead.

 

Quotes

Quote

Starting in mid-February, a planned update to the NVIDIA Games app will begin rolling out to SHIELD owners. With this update, the GameStream feature will no longer be available in app. SHIELD users can continue to use GameStream until that time.

 

My thoughts

This is going to be a big annoyance to a many people that bought the Shield TV for both content consumption and gaming. Steam Link is good, but is not as good as GameStream, with in my experience higher latency and worse frametimes.  The release from Nvidia only mentions the update is pushed to Shield devices, but that's not a good solution to miss out on other updates.

 

The alternative is using Moonlight: https://moonlight-stream.org/

and if Nvidia eventually kills off GameStream via GeForce Experience, then there is also Sunshine: https://github.com/lizardbyte/sunshine

 

I don't like how Nvidia is killing off features while they are still selling Shields. It's not like the device is EOL I cannot fathom that GameStream is costing them a lot to maintain. Relying on the community or other companies to deliver on product features feels really scummy.

 

Sources

https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5436/~/gamestream-end-of-service-notification

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-kills-off-gamestream-feature-on-shield-devices

[TOMPPIX]

They are removing it so they can sell it to you later, as a subscription.

[Texadian]

Absolute trash decision by NVIDIA. While Sunshine works as a platform agnostic replacement for the host backend Geforce Experience provides, it is much more obtuse to use and introduces more latency than the GFE backend though it is still better than Steam Link. Hopefully either NVIDIA backs down from killing it or people step up to make Sunshine better. Steam Link simply is not good enough. Latency and frametimes are so much worse plus god forbid you want to stream something other than a Steam game.

 

EDIT: It's also worth making clear that this WILL kill the whole Gamestream protocol as NVIDIA has implemented it. GFE will shut off the host backend so Moonlight, which if you didn't know allows you to stream to just about any device not just Shields, will die completely if not for the Sunshine implementation.

Someone on the NVIDIA forums confirmed this after chatting with NVIDIA support: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/shield-tv/9/506448/gamestream-service-update/3304897/

 

Reddit is very much cheesed

[AlTech]

1 hour ago, TOMPPIX said:

They are removing it so they can sell it to you later, as a subscription.

In the form of GeForce Now no doubt.

[Fasterthannothing]

This is terrible like seriously terrible. If they want to stop updating that technology fine but to actually go and remove it and render moonlight defunct is absurdity. I remember using gamestream when it first came out and it was revolutionary nothing was and still is remotely (pun intended) close to the low lag and visuals from their streaming protocol.

[Orangeator]

This is some of the worst news I have heard in the tech space in a while. I can only hope they reverse this decision.

[TetraSky]

6 hours ago, TOMPPIX said:

They are removing it so they can sell it to you later, as a subscription.

Actually very likely to be the case.

[Arika]

I hope they don't get rid of gamestream, i use moonlight sooooooo much.

[sof006]

 Nvidia being Anti-Consumer... again?!    

[mr moose]

It will be interesting to see if this decision is even legal in places like Australia.

 

 

[h0m3]

I really hope this turn out to be good news,

nvidia being nvidia is not new but making moonlight / sunshine more visible and untether it from the nvidia protocol, some things are today limited by the nvidia protocol, like streaming microphone to the host for instance. I think the protocol can be vastly improved now that nvidia is not there to artificially limit it.

I've bought nvidia cards in the past due to GameStream support and now its another reason to my next cards be AMD, not because they are the good guy somehow but because nvidia is such a bad company that anything else is better.

[LAwLz]

It seems really weird that they would remove this feature.

I haven't read much about Gamestream but isn't it done entirely locally? While they do give a wink to their subscription service in the announcement, they also recommend Steam Link which essentially a competing product.

 

If they just disabled it and went "sorry it doesn't work anymore, please use GeForce Now" then I would just assume it was good old corporate greed. But the fact that they advertise and recommend a competing product makes me think there is a bit more to the story. Maybe there is some patent or license that is about to expire and the lack of usage makes it not worthwhile to keep the feature around. Maybe there is some security vulnerability that they can't be bothered to fix because like 10 people use the feature. 

 

Anyway, it sucks for those who use it.

If you want to keep using it then you will have to run Moonlight + Sunshine.

[Bastronaut]

This sucks hard. We use gamestream every day and is the entire reason we got rtx cards and a shield Pro.

 

I really hope moonlight and sunshine can keep working, I am even willing to Pay for it. Let's hope they can keep using and maybe improve the protocol.

 

I would really like to know why they are Killing it. Fine if they stop developing for it, but just keep it in as if is (it works just fine). 

[Kisai]

On 12/18/2022 at 10:14 AM, CyberneticTitan said:

Summary

Nvidia is removing GameStream from their SHIELD devices in February 2023. They are recommending users to transition to Steam Link instead.

 

I didn't use it, and didn't really see why you'd use it instead of just using the gaming computer unless you're someone who has an obnoxiously large house and a lot of televisions. But replacing it with just Geforce Now? What the heck?

 

This smells like nvidia is just no longer interested in maintaining the feature on what is probably an under-powered shield device. Remember the Shield (TV) devices are about the same grade of hardware as the Nintendo switch, which puts it around 5-7 years old, or nearly EOL.  Not to mention that not all models have the same CPU and RAM configuration, and hasn't included a controller since the 2017 model.

 

It almost seems like the platform has been abandoned. https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/nvidia-discontinues-the-nvidia-shield-pro/ , so this might just be the sign of all Shield devices being discontinued.

 

[Mr_ALLroy]

Not that it will help, but there is a petition with 1900+ sigs already.  I encourage anyone and everyone to sign.

 

https://www.change.org/p/nvidia-nvidia-revert-decision-to-shutdown-gamestream?signed=true

[StDragon]

On 12/18/2022 at 12:26 PM, TOMPPIX said:

They are removing it so they can sell it to you later, as a subscription.

nGreedia. I'm done with Team Green until they turn their act around. They probably would rather get out of the GPU business anyways and focus on ML hardware. So be it.

[Kisai]

1 hour ago, StDragon said:

nGreedia. I'm done with Team Green until they turn their act around. They probably would rather get out of the GPU business anyways and focus on ML hardware. So be it.

I doubt it. Their business isn't going to survive on high-margin/low-demand products.

 

In the grand scheme of things, I see them probably never releasing another "xx90" 300w+ product on PCIe. It'll probably end up being a special purpose server/workstation unit that has to be special-purchased, or only available via Dell/HP/Lenovo.

 

If their goal really is GeForce Now for everything, then that bodes poorly for people who want the best gaming hardware.

 

Like I don't see the "gamestream" feature as a core feature, but perhaps there are security issues that can't be resolved that they just decided to nuke the feature entirely. Or perhaps it simply was not worth the duplication of efforts. Who knows.

[Real_PhillBert]

That frigg'n sucks! I dont use game stream terribly often, but do now and then. I've been really really happy with the feature and honestly it's kept me on team green even when they've made some other questionable decisions. 

 

I have very little faith in change.org petitions, but hope this decision gets reversed none the less.

[BennyK491]

This one is absolutely brutal for me. I switched from an HD 7950 to a GTX 780 back in the day to use my Shield portable, and have been firmly within the NVidia ecosystem ever since. I've had the K2 tablet, the OG shield, the Shield pro, and have never considered even switching to an AMD card specifically because of Gamestream. It's the primary way I play non-FPS games, and if it is actually dead for real I am going to be so bitterly disappointed. Steam link has been an absolute garbage alternative for me when compared to Gamestream/Moonlight. I'll certainly be voting with my wallet when it comes time to make my next upgrade.

[vertigo220]

On 12/19/2022 at 7:28 AM, mr moose said:

It will be interesting to see if this decision is even legal in places like Australia.

 

 

That was one of my first thoughts with this. Sony got sued with a class-action when they removed the ability to put linux on the PS3. This seems similar, if not worse.