Nvidia upgrades headset game streaming with 4K 120fps, foveated streaming

Starting next week, GeForce Now can stream "flat" games at 90fps to headsets such as Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest. Foveated streaming and 4K120 for Vision Pro will follow.

A growing number of gamers are using headsets. Combined with cloud gaming – game streaming – it lets you play AAA games on a virtual screen that looks larger than any TV in the living room.

Nvidia's role in this ecosystem is primarily GeForce Now, a game streaming service for titles that you have purchased on Steam, Epic Games Store and Xbox. These games run on RTX5080 graphics cards in Nvidia's data centers and are streamed to your device over the internet. In other words, you do not need a powerful gaming PC or console.

At the annual Game Developer's Conference, Nvidia announced that the GOG game store can now be linked to GeForce Now.


90fps in headsets
Nvidia further announced that starting next week GeForce Now will support games at 90fps in headsets such as Apple Vision Pro, Meta Quest and Pico. This is a notable improvement over 60fps, which is generally considered too low for headsets.

- "Starting March 19th, GeForce Now will support up to 90 FPS gameplay on virtual reality devices, including the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest, an upgrade from the previous 60 FPS experience," announced Nvidia.

These are "flat" 2D games – not immersive VR games. 90fps requires a GeForce Now Ultimate subscription.

Nvidia did not comment on plans for Android XR.

 Also read: Samsung unveils $1800 competitor to Apple Vision Pro


Foveated streaming
Nvidia also announced foveated streaming, where rendering quality is focused on the area the user is looking at in the headset, while the periphery is rendered at lower quality.

Foveated streaming was one of Valve's aces when it unveiled the Steam Frame VR.

- "Spatial computing adds a new dimension to gaming by giving players a whole new way to experience their favorite games. Later this spring, with Nvidia CloudXR 6.0 for visionOS, Apple Vision Pro users can stream immersive PC and cloud experiences from Nvidia RTX systems," said Nvidia. "CloudXR 6.0 adds visionOS integration with privacy-preserving foveated streaming, which helps developers deliver better visual quality and performance without rebuilding content for standalone hardware."


Nvidia's foveated streaming is supported via cloud gaming (over the internet) or a PC with an Nvidia graphics card (local network). It requires eye-tracking hardware in the headset, which is why it works on Apple Vision Pro but not Meta Quest or Pico. CloudXR 6.0 supports up to 4K 120fps on Apple Vision Pro (M5).

The games iRacing, a realistic motorsport racing simulator, and X-Plane 12, a professional flight simulator, will be the first to adopt CloudXR 6.0 on Apple Vision Pro. It will be "immersive, stereoscopic" at up to 4K 120fps, according to Nvidia. It requires visionOS 26.4.


- Source: Nvidia (2), Laminar Research