News & Commentary

The GeForce Recap: GeForce NOW Goes Native on Linux, DLSS 4.5 Spreads to Four More Games

GeForce NOW's native Linux app graduated from beta and Chromebooks gained full library access the same day four games shipped or previewed DLSS 4.5, while the Game Ready driver stayed quiet for a third week running.

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GeForce News broke a two-week silence and the corporate blog ran its own headline story on the same day: GeForce NOW's Linux client left beta as four games shipped, launched, or previewed with DLSS 4.5. The Game Ready driver, meanwhile, kept quiet for a third straight week.

GeForce NOW's Linux client is no longer a beta build

The native Linux app for GeForce NOW has graduated from beta, targeting Ubuntu 24.04 and later and shipping through a new Flatpak repository for updates. NVIDIA also says it tightened DLSS Frame Generation latency for streamed sessions, with the improvement "especially noticeable when streaming at 60 or 120 frames per second in 1440p and 4K," and Performance-tier subscribers get automatic CPU optimizations for demanding games at no added cost.

Chromebooks get the bigger structural change: they can now reach GeForce NOW's full catalog of more than 2,000 supported PC games, not a cut-down mobile subset. Layered on top is Chromebook Fast Pass, a promotion rather than a standing benefit: eligible buyers of new Chromebooks get a free year of GeForce NOW with priority queue access and no ads, a deal tied to the hardware purchase, not something existing Chromebook owners get automatically.

Nine games joined the service this week, including Hell Let Loose: Vietnam alongside Car Wash Simulator, Sandustry, Misery, and the Monster Hunter Wilds Prologue Demo. Hell Let Loose: Vietnam is worth a second look because it shipped the same day on both sides of NVIDIA's stack, as a native RTX release and as a GeForce NOW stream, which is the kind of overlap that makes the cloud tier a fallback for underpowered hardware rather than a separate product.

DLSS 4.5 shows up in four games, at four different stages

No More Room in Hell 2 exited early access this week with a launch update that carries the full DLSS 4.5 suite: Multi Frame Generation, single Frame Generation, Super Resolution, DLAA, and Reflex, plus Dynamic Multi Frame Generation for RTX 50 series cards. That's shipped and playable today, not a promise on a slide.

Hell Let Loose: Vietnam launched with DLSS 4.5 Super Resolution and Dynamic Multi Frame Generation for RTX 50 series through the NVIDIA app, the same real-today category. Gears of War: E-Day sits a step behind: its multiplayer beta opened to everyone this week (open through 10am PT today) with only Super Resolution and Reflex, while the "complete suite of DLSS 4.5 technologies" NVIDIA is promising waits for the October 6 full release.

Phantom Blade Zero is furthest out. Preorders opened this week for an October 29 launch, with DLSS 4.5 Super Resolution and Multi Frame Generation, plus PC-exclusive ray-traced reflections, shadows, and caustics, all listed as planned features for a game that hasn't shipped.

The 610.88 Game Ready driver from July 28 is closing in on three weeks without a follow-up or hotfix, the longest gap logged in this series so far. The DLSS 4.5 Ray Reconstruction update promised for August, the one that gives the Efficient Denoiser 35% more compute capability, still hasn't turned up in a GeForce News post or an NVIDIA app changelog, and the month is now past its midpoint.

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