Those who enjoy NVIDIA’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service are about to see a big, free-tier-related change soon. Starting March 5, users in this tier will start seeing ads while they are using the platform. While the ads won’t bombard players during their gameplay, they will pop up while waiting for a session to begin. However, the ads won’t show up at any other time, and the change will not affect the Premium or Ultimate tiers. It’s only for those who don’t already pay a subscription fee to the service.

The change was confirmed by NVIDIA spokesperson Stephenie Ngo, who spoke recently with The Verge in an interview. “Free users will start to see up to two minutes of ads while waiting in queue to start a gaming session,” Ngo said. NVIDIA believes this change will help cover the cost of keeping the free tier alive and eventually help lower wait times for an available system. Waiting for a remote server to open up can sometimes be short, even immediate. So, if you get lucky, you might not see the advertisements at all. Regardless, the ads will cap out at two minutes tops.

GeForce Now ads coming to the free tier

These up to two minutes of ads already put a damper on the platform’s free tier. Anyone in the lowest rung of NVIDIA’s subscription service is made to wait for an available remote server whenever they decide to play. On top of that, they only get access for one hour. With ads being introduced, more and more players may be forced to remove them by upgrading to higher tiers. If the hour session limit didn’t push them over the edge to upgrade, this change might.

Ads are nearly inescapable on nearly any platform nowadays, and while the free GeForce Now experience wasn’t the best way to enjoy the service, it made up for it by remaining cost-free. Users likely won’t be happy to see the change implemented, as introducing ads on any service usually doesn’t go well. The company has sent out an email letting free-tier users know about the change. And despite assurances, some people are already worried the ads will soon worm their way into the paid tiers.

NVIDIA has recently seen success with its AI and is keeping on top of all its products to remain competitive. GeForce Now already faces competition from Xbox Cloud Gaming, Playstation Now, and Amazon Luna and needs to keep the platform favorable to all its users to stay on top of the cloud gaming scene.

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Annie Thelen

Annie is a journalist focusing on the latest technology news and deals. At PC Guide, Annie covers the latest bundle deals and news from the world of tech, with a particular focus on GPU and CPU news.