I'm sure this will excite some of our readers who are fans of game streaming: NVIDIA has added the ability to play GeForce NOW game streaming via the browser.
Currently, it's limited to ChromeOS and Chromebooks as per their announcement. However, you can easily get around that because of how stupidly flawed browser agent strings are. Spoofing it is easy, although it only works in Chrome and not Firefox from my own testing. Just grab a User Agent Switcher plugin (like this), then add this as an option:
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; CrOS x86_64 13099.85.0) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/84.0.4147.110 Safari/537.36
That allows NVIDIA GeForce NOW to run on desktop Linux, simply in a Chrome browser. Just like Google Stadia has been able to since release. Here's a video of it in action on my Linux desktop:
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Direct Link
Direct Link
Well, how about that? Another barrier broken down for Linux gaming fans. Surprisingly it did actually work really well. Input was responsive and the picture quality was really good.
NVIDIA GeForce NOW is quite different to Stadia, in that it uses games you have in your library across Steam, Origin, Ubisoft, Epic Games and more. However, if you wish to play past 1 hour, you have to pay a monthly subscription. The integration also feels far weaker than Stadia, which is a proper platform. On GeForce NOW, it's clearly Windows machines in the cloud to the point of hearing the Windows 10 ping sound when you click around as it doesn't let you. Stadia feels much tighter as a system and platform but GeForce NOW has the big benefit of games being available locally on your system as you "own" them as well as streaming them which Stadia does not, Stadia can only stream the games.
Obviously, at this point NVIDIA are not supporting the Linux desktop with GeForce NOW in any way and it could break any time - so keep that in mind. A mod on the community GFN Reddit did indicate this looks like the direction NVIDIA are going (having it in the browser), to open it up to more. Options are good for everyone though of course and we're just here to bring the tips.
You can try it on play.geforcenow.com.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
About the author - Liam Dawe
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. You can also follow my personal adventures on Bluesky.
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thykr 20 Aug 2020
I'm not super comfortable with giving my Steam account password to nVidia... :(
Otherwise I think it's nice to be able to rent a virtual Windows machine in the cloud for so cheap.
Last edited by thykr on 20 Aug 2020 at 12:00 am UTC
Otherwise I think it's nice to be able to rent a virtual Windows machine in the cloud for so cheap.
Last edited by thykr on 20 Aug 2020 at 12:00 am UTC
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buckysrevenge 20 Aug 2020
I really like the license usage from other game services, but it really comes down to data usage for me. I share my internet with my whole family (6 people who all actively use it) and until my ISP gives me more data at a reasonable rate, I need to hold off on this kind of service. Besides, only about 60 of my Steam games are on the service anyway 
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Once again, I read the comments on something "controversial" like cloud gaming and remember why we can't have nice things on Linux...
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Once again, I read the comments on something "controversial" like cloud gaming and remember why we can't have nice things on Linux...People comments is a reflection of the issues with these streaming services.
Stadia could become a detriment in that if it becomes dominant it can undermine local releases of games. Not to forget they are already doing a bad thing, exclusivity. There are other concerns too. Stadia does have potential to be successful by leveraging cloud servers, such as the features they have and are working on. Yet even at this early stage they have resorted to one bad tactic already.
Geforce Now unlike Stadia is using Windows servers. This is negative for gaming on Linux. With Stadia improvements are made that will be of benefit for proper Linux (desktop distributions). Most obvious thing is that it uses Vulkan, and that will be a very important for native game development on Linux.
I take issue with your comment. If you view posts made about Steam Remote Play or/and Play Together you will find many positive comments. And those two features are streaming using your own computers. Should everyone dig a hole in ground and stick their heads into it like a ostrich? These "nice things" (Stadia and Geforce) aren't as nice as you make them out to be. If they were you'd see overwhelming support for them.
Last edited by Linuxwarper on 20 Aug 2020 at 2:24 pm UTC
1 Likes
Once again, I read the comments on something "controversial" like cloud gaming and remember why we can't have nice things on Linux...I have nice things on Linux, dunno why you don't.
So, what, it's a terrible thing to think about things rather than just accepting them uncritically? Yeah, I'm fine with Linux people bothering to evaluate. Some of the people arguing here must be wrong, perhaps none are entirely right, but at least they're trying to figure things out. In the internet era it is wise to look gift horses in the mouth, since they rarely turn out to be actual gifts. Actual gifts create no profit. About the only gift horses that stand up to a good inspection are the open source ones.
3 Likes
CFWhitman 20 Aug 2020
Once again, I read the comments on something "controversial" like cloud gaming and remember why we can't have nice things on Linux...Well, I'm just calling things as I see them, not making a complete judgement on whether or not they should be taken advantage of. Though I don't feel that DRM games on Steam are exactly one hundred percent owned by me (in fact, inability to transfer a game to someone else is also an argument against "ownership" of your copy) I do still play games on Steam. As an example of a positive for playing a game on Steam, it's much more likely to be maintained well enough to continue working on newer versions of Linux (without me going to great lengths to seek out old dependencies) than downloads that I got years ago from Humble Bundle, of which I may have a copy that I do clearly own, but have trouble using.
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awesam 22 Aug 2020
Needing to change browsers user agent is silly, I think someone should reach out to Nvidia about this. I mean this is probably like one line of code they would have to add/change to make this work on Linux out of the box.
1 Likes
awesam 23 Aug 2020
I just checked and GeForce Now counts as playing a game on Windows (regardless of spoofing the browser ChromeOS). So keep that in mind when buying games if you want them to count as Linux purchases. Run or idle the games on Linux first, or wait a few weeks before playing so that the platform of purchase has been finalized.
1 Likes
Shmerl 23 Aug 2020
I just checked and GeForce Now counts as playing a game on Windows (regardless of spoofing the browser ChromeOS).
Why would you think otherwise? The game is literally running on Windows. So it would be a misdetection not to count it as such.
Last edited by Shmerl on 23 Aug 2020 at 6:42 pm UTC
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awesam 23 Aug 2020
I just checked and GeForce Now counts as playing a game on Windows (regardless of spoofing the browser ChromeOS).
Why would you think otherwise? The game is literally running on Windows. So it would be a misdetection not to count it as such.
Yea it makes sense, but I thought there would be something more advanced involved here. Like some kind of communication between Nvidia and Steam servers, so that it is known when a game is running on GeForce Now, the browser and OS used being reported etc.. But appears this is just basically the same thing as running a game on just any virtual machine
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michaldybczak 29 Aug 2020
How to make the user agent working? There are required fields:
Append? Replace/Append - which one to choose?
Indicator flag - what should be put there? I tried S7, but not sure if that will work.
Now when the option is saved, how to activate it? So far it still says that device isn't supported so either I use wrong parameters or didn't activate it, or both.
This is frustrating, because only half of the info is given here, so this is basically useless :(
Append? Replace/Append - which one to choose?
Indicator flag - what should be put there? I tried S7, but not sure if that will work.
Now when the option is saved, how to activate it? So far it still says that device isn't supported so either I use wrong parameters or didn't activate it, or both.
This is frustrating, because only half of the info is given here, so this is basically useless :(
0 Likes
awesam 29 Aug 2020
How to make the user agent working? There are required fields:
Append? Replace/Append - which one to choose?
Indicator flag - what should be put there? I tried S7, but not sure if that will work.
Now when the option is saved, how to activate it? So far it still says that device isn't supported so either I use wrong parameters or didn't activate it, or both.
This is frustrating, because only half of the info is given here, so this is basically useless :(
-First install the user agent switcher plugin
-Right click and select options
-enter custom user agent info like pictured below (select replace) and click add
- Click on the User Agent switcher icon, select Chrome and then Chrome OS
done
0 Likes
michaldybczak 29 Aug 2020
Still doesn't work and I get "unsupported device" page :( and I did everything as you showed on Chrome browser :(
Last edited by michaldybczak on 29 Aug 2020 at 11:13 pm UTC
Last edited by michaldybczak on 29 Aug 2020 at 11:13 pm UTC
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awesam 29 Aug 2020
Hmm strange, I assume the user Agent Switcher icon displays the letters "COS" right? (indicating that the ChromeOS profile has been selected)
Like on this picture (And this is also how my other user Agent settings look like)
If everything looks correct for you, I suggest downloading a different browser and try it (in my case I used Brave with default settings). Assuming you have done everything right, maybe there is some extension or some setting you changed in Chrome that is causing this (no idea what though, for example seen some sites not work with HTTPS everywhere enabled)
Like on this picture (And this is also how my other user Agent settings look like)
If everything looks correct for you, I suggest downloading a different browser and try it (in my case I used Brave with default settings). Assuming you have done everything right, maybe there is some extension or some setting you changed in Chrome that is causing this (no idea what though, for example seen some sites not work with HTTPS everywhere enabled)
0 Likes
mylka 30 Aug 2020
How to make the user agent working? There are required fields:
Append? Replace/Append - which one to choose?
Indicator flag - what should be put there? I tried S7, but not sure if that will work.
Now when the option is saved, how to activate it? So far it still says that device isn't supported so either I use wrong parameters or didn't activate it, or both.
This is frustrating, because only half of the info is given here, so this is basically useless :(
you dont even need a addon
https://www.reddit.com/r/GeForceNOW/comments/ic39xi/guide_how_to_use_geforce_now_in_browser_on_chrome/
only thing is you have to uncheck it everytime
0 Likes
michaldybczak 30 Aug 2020
Yes, Agent Switcher icon displayed the letters "COS".
I tried the alternative solution. I disabled agent switcher to rule out any interferences, changed to Chrome OS and... nothing. Still get the "unsupported device" page.
I'm not using chrome on daily basis so the browser was in default state, no other plugins then agent switcher, so this couldn't be some plugin interference either.
I'm using Manjaro testing branch, everything is up to date, so I can't suspect obsolete packages too.
It has to be something else, but what? Next logical step would be to try different browser, for example Vivaldi and... BINGO! User agent worked this time. I did exactly the same on Chrome and it didn't work, on other chrome based browser, all works... Strange!
I tried the alternative solution. I disabled agent switcher to rule out any interferences, changed to Chrome OS and... nothing. Still get the "unsupported device" page.
I'm not using chrome on daily basis so the browser was in default state, no other plugins then agent switcher, so this couldn't be some plugin interference either.
I'm using Manjaro testing branch, everything is up to date, so I can't suspect obsolete packages too.
It has to be something else, but what? Next logical step would be to try different browser, for example Vivaldi and... BINGO! User agent worked this time. I did exactly the same on Chrome and it didn't work, on other chrome based browser, all works... Strange!
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Looks like Nvidia removed the chromeos/chromebooks-only requirement. Nothing official, but I can use it now without any kind of spoofing.
Can anyone confirm?
Can anyone confirm?
2 Likes
awesam 12 Sep 2020
@dubigrasu it works for me too without spoofing now, wonder if this is a conscious change they made 
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@dubigrasu it works for me too without spoofing now, wonder if this is a conscious change they madeFunny thing, apparently you still need the spoofing on Windows. I haven't checked personally, but if so, is a interesting move.
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