The NVIDIA GeForce NOW hardware has landed in the country and an internal beta is already underway. In an email to NAG, rain, the South African 4G and 5G data network operator, confirmed that the service is set to launch around June.
“We can confirm that the server equipment is now in-country, and we are working closely with NVIDIA to deliver the best possible gaming experience for our users. The team is hard at work on the BETA trials to ensure a smooth and efficient launch.”
Late last year rain announced that it had signed a partnership agreement with NVIDIA to bring GeForce NOW cloud gaming to South Africa, with GeForce NOW servers to be hosted locally in rain data centres. This launch will signal the first time the NVIDIA GeForce NOW service will be available in Africa.
The GeForce NOW cloud gaming service is NVIDIA’s attempt at capturing an audience of gamers looking to game from devices that cannot play games natively, such as older notebooks, low-spec computer hardware, and even mobile. By streaming a game directly from a GeForce NOW-hosted server, virtually any device that can stream Netflix, should be able to run any game. Of course, latency plays a critical role, so the service will be best enjoyed over a fibre connection or a 5G wireless service.
Subscribers to the service will be able to stream games they already own across the major platforms, including Steam, Epic, Ubisoft, and Origin.
Rain also confirmed that the service is set to launch towards the end of June, “later in our second quarter.”
Gamers who are interested can register on the rain website to get more news closer to launch.