Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred arrives on Nvidia Geforce Now today — but we still can’t play on Xbox Cloud Gaming

You can now stream the new Diablo 4 expansion on any capable device through Nvidia GeForce Now, but I’m mad we can’t do it through Xbox Game Pass

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What you need to know

This week has been huge for Diablo 4 fans, with the launch of it’s first expansion Vessel of Hatred, and today it’s officially hit the Nvidia GeForce Now platform.  This release is part of the latest GeForce Now Thursday announcement, which also includes several new titles and significant updates to the platform’s syncing capabilities. Ultimate members can enjoy up to 4K resolution and 120 frames per second with NVIDIA DLSS and ray-tracing technologies. As well as the Vessel of Hatred update, we can now play:

Play Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred and many other Blizzard titles on any cloud-enabled device

One of the standout features of this week’s GeForce NOW update is the introduction of Battle.Net syncing. This new capability allows members to sync their Blizzard game library with GeForce NOW, ensuring that all their favorite Blizzard titles, such asOverwatch 2,Hearthstone, andStarCraft 2, are readily accessible across all their devices. This addition joins existing syncing support for other digital storefronts, including Steam, Epic Games Store, Xbox, and Ubisoft Connect.

For Nvidia GeForce Ultimate members, the experience is even more impressive. They can enjoy the latest Diablo IV DLC at up to 4K resolution and 120 frames per second, thanks to NVIDIA DLSS and ray-tracing technologies. This means that even on low-powered devices, like theLogitech G CloudI’m playing on above, players can experience high-quality graphics and smooth gameplay, making the most of their cloud gaming sessions. I’m already a huge fan of Nvidia GeForce Now, my subscription allowing me to play Baldur’s Gate 3 last year when my Steam Deck struggled with the title. You can even nowuse Nvidia GeForce Now on your Xbox with some integration on the dashboard.

It’s still ridiculous that we can’t play Diablo 4 on Xbox Game Pass, and it could get more ridiculous…

While the launch ofDiablo 4: Vessel of Hatredon GeForce Now is fantastic news for people like me who have aNvidia GeForce Now subscriptionit’s frustrating that we can’t access this on Xbox Cloud Gaming as part of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription. Having to pay for an additional service to enjoy cloud gaming on a title owned by Microsoft feels counterintuitive. Unfortunately, we have the UK government to blame for this situation.Due to a ruling by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Microsoft had to transfer the cloud gaming rights forActivision Blizzard games to Ubisoft for the next 10 years. This decision was a condition for Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard to proceed. As a result, Diablo 4 and other Blizzard titles are not available on Xbox Cloud Gaming, even though they are accessible on other platforms like GeForce Now.

The situation could become even more complicated. Despite the CMA’s concerns about Microsoft having a ‘monopoly’ in the cloud gaming market, transferring these rights to Ubisoft might lead to them being acquired by another major corporation.Tencent is currently eyeing an acquisition of Ubisoft, which could result in Tencent owning the cloud gaming rights to these Blizzard titles. This outcome likely wasn’t the CMA’s intention, but it could lead to an evenlessfavorable situation for consumers, who now have to pay for two subscriptions to get the same service as they would have done prior to the CMA ruling. The prospect of Tencent owning the rights to stream games likeCall of Duty: Black Ops 6doesn’t sound too promising to me.

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Nvidia GeForce Now is superior to Xbox Cloud Gaming

As much as I loveXbox Cloud Gaming, I do have to admit that Nvidia GeForce Now surpasses it in performance and I do find the extra subscription worth it. The concept is that you play the games you already own, but with the power of high-end NVIDIA PCs over the cloud. GeForce Now gives better resolution, framerate, visual fidelity, bitrate performance, and latency—outperforming Xbox Cloud Gaming. It even works over hotel wi-fi,as Jez Corden found out when he tried to play World of Warcraft. That being said, I’d still love to see Diablo 4 and other titles on Xbox Game Pass as the requirement for the extra subscription isn’t viable for most. If you do find yourself wanting to try it out, we have a link to the service below.

NVIDIA GeForce Now

Experience the ultimate cloud gaming experience for PC with NVIDIA GeForce Now. This subscription allows users toplay and stream over a thousand gamesat next-gen levels of quality, download games faster, play their PC games on mobile devices, and much more.

Subscribe at:NVIDIA

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Jen is a News Writer for Windows Central, focused on all things gaming and Microsoft. Anything slaying monsters with magical weapons will get a thumbs up such as Dark Souls, Dragon Age, Diablo, and Monster Hunter. When not playing games, she’ll be watching a horror or trash reality TV show, she hasn’t decided which of those categories the Kardashians fit into. You can follow Jen on Twitter@Jenbox360for more Diablo fangirling and general moaning about British weather.