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Ever since Google introduced its Chromebook Plus program in 2023, which promises a certain amount of power and screen resolution for your device, it’s been trying its best to get people to game on their Chromebooks. There are Chromebooks with OLED screens, high refresh rates, and even light-up keyboards, but no matter how many bells and whistles you slap on a Chromebook, it’s still not going to have nearly as much raw processing power as a more traditional laptop.
That’s where cloud gaming comes in. This lets you stream games from the cloud, if you’re willing to put up with a certain amount of video compression and input delay. One of the most popular cloud gaming services is Nvidia’s GeForce Now, which lets you play select free-to-play titles and PC games you already own using the company’s own data centers. The catch is that you either have to watch ads or pay up—but today, Google’s Chromebooks are getting an exclusive new tier of GeForce Now that fixes both of these issues.
Called GeForce Now Fast Pass, this version of GeForce Now is sort of like an expanded version of the existing free tier. You’ll still be limited to playing at 1080p and 60fps—higher specs will require you to pay—and you won’t have access to GeForce Now’s “Install-to-Play” games, which means the library of compatible titles will be closer to 2,000 than 4,000. But unlike the free tier, you won’t have to watch any ads, and you won’t have to wait in a queue to start playing. Nvidia says the typical free-tier queue is only two minutes long, but hey, the sooner you can hop into the action, the better.
Starting today, all new Chromebook purchases will come with a free year of GeForce Now Fast Pass, but there are some caveats. The big one is that you only get 10 free Fast Pass hours per month, although up to five unused hours will roll over to the next month.
That means you’ll still have to keep track of your time while playing, even if you don’t have to watch ads. A Google spokesperson told me over email that once your Fast Pass hours are up, you’ll be downgraded to the basic, ad-supported free tier, or you can purchase more Fast Pass hours a la carte. I wasn’t told exactly how much these hours will cost, but given that a day pass (meaning 24 hours of play) of GeForce Now with no ads and higher specs than Fast Pass costs just $3.99, I can’t imagine they’ll be too expensive.
As for when your year of Fast Pass is over, I’m still waiting for an answer on how to renew. I’ll update this post once I hear back. I’ve also asked whether users that already have Chromebooks will be able to sign up for GeForce Now Fast Pass.
One last bonus for Fast Pass, though, is that you don’t have to actually use it on your Chromebook. You’ll need a Chromebook to sign up (I’m also still waiting on exact steps for that), but once you’ve redeemed the offer, you’ll be able to use it on any GeForce Now compatible device, like a phone or tablet.
Overall, it doesn’t exactly seem like something I’d go out of my way to buy a Chromebook for, but it could be a decent way to get good enough performance to play through about one short game per month, all without having to pay for GeForce Now or deal with ads or wait times. Combine that with the free games that sites like Epic give out on a regular basis, and you could essentially game casually for a year without buying anything other than your Chromebook.