Just as I was singing the praises of Nvidia’s GeForce Now, Activision Blizzard had to go and mess up the vibe. In a move that some could say was expected, the company has requested the Nvidia remove all of its games from the GeForce Now cloud gaming service.
Meaning that games such as all of the recent Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Overwatch, Hearthstone and all of the Warcraft games are no longer on the service. It’s a good thing Bungie broke away when they, right? According to Nvidia, they are honoring Activision Blizzard’s request to have the games removed.
They noted this as being ” unfortunate, we hope to work together with Activision Blizzard to reenable these games and more in the future.”. That said, you have to wonder why the company would want Nivida to remove its games. If anything, this was enabling more people to purchase their games if they could play them on an underpowered PC, laptop, tablet or all of the above. In fact, after doing some research, it would seem that the company had added a limitation in its EULA and forbids anyone from using Cloud Computing with Activision Blizzard games, back during 2018.
License Limitations. Blizzard may suspend or revoke your license to use the Platform, or parts, components and/or single features thereof, if you violate, or assist others in violating, the license limitations set forth below. You agree that you will not, in whole or in part or under any circumstances, do the following:
- Cloud Computing: Use the Platform, including a Game, in connection with any unauthorized third-party “cloud computing” services, “cloud gaming” services, or any software or service designed to enable the unauthorized streaming or transmission of Game content from a third-party server to any device.
I can’t say I’ve seen a EULA that specifically highlights that, but going forth this could spell trouble for the company. With cloud gaming services picking up more steam, they could find themselves sitting out of a possible lucrative investment. That is unless they’re working on their own cloud gaming service.
Judging from that move, it was the wrong one as I’ve seen a number of posts from people who’ve purchased Activision Blizzard games since they were available on GeForce Now.
The sad reality of all this is that any publisher can request that Nvidia pull their game from the service. Especially those who happen to be working on their own cloud gaming service. That said, Activision Blizzard won’t be the last company to request that Nvidia remove their games from the service.