What does “soon” mean? For normies like you and me, it likely means probably next week or maybe even before the end of the month (about 3-4 weeks). According to Merriam-Webster, it means “without undue time lapse” or “in a prompt manner”. But it appears that for Nvidia, “Soon” does not mean what I, you, or even Merriam-Webster think. But before I continue, let me preface this with a bit of context.
About two months ago, Nvidia India invited us and a number of journalists and content creators to its “Media preview” event to showcase its cloud game streaming service, GeForce Now. During our limited time with the service in a likely controlled setting, I termed my experience as “impressive” with all the disclaimers regarding an extended testing to come. At the same time, we did not actually get a launch date for Nvidia GeForce Now.
A Brief History of Delays
To recap, the company with a market cap of 4.31 trillion USD (at the time of writing) first announced that GeForce Now was “Coming Soon” in India at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025 in January 2025. As we highlighted in our November 2025 report, Nvidia changed the timeline twice (first from “first half of this year” to “later this year,” and then defining “later this year” as “November 2025”) before sharing the Q1 2026 launch timeline.
The Many Meanings of Quarter 1
Now we are sitting in April 2026, firmly outside the “Q1 2026” timeline with no official communication beyond reports of a moderator of the subreddit r/GeForceNOW sharing that the service is “expected” to be available “before the end of” the “fiscal quarter in April.” We have reached out to Nvidia to confirm whether this statement originated with them, as it wasn’t included in the “GeForce NOW Thursday” update post on the Nvidia Blog. We also asked about the launch timeline of GFN in India, and we will update this copy as soon as we receive responses to both these queries.
The introduction of the “fiscal” quarter also appeared only with this allegedly official statement. Otherwise, there was no mention of normal, Quarter 1 or Fiscal Quarter 1 that Nvidia allegedly follows. I even mentioned the launch timeline for January to March 2026 in my November 2025 report with no corrections from the company.
In fact, during the “Media preview”, we heard plans about two access programs. A closed beta access program for media and a limited “open beta” access program for consumers. As of now, none of these access programs has materialised.
Now, I just hope that we don’t get a new meaning of Quarter 1 as the Q1 of Financial Year 2026-27 (April till June 2026).
Eroding Trust One Delay at a Time
I am not going to delve into the “you’ll own nothing and be happy” conundrum that the tech and geopolitical landscape seem to be pushing us toward. In my opinion, local access to your own things is always better. But I will also never gatekeep video games (and entertainment) from people who can’t build a gaming PC or buy a pre-built PC, a gaming laptop, or a console.
I am also not going to claim that Nvidia may do lasting damage to its trust in the Indian market, despite its best attempts *cough* DLSS 5 *cough*. This is because the market has a very strong affinity for Team Green, and the competition (Team Red, more on that soon) continues to outclass Nvidia by shooting itself in the foot at almost every opportunity.
But what I am going to do is still try to hold this multi-trillion-dollar company accountable to its words and claims.
Who Are These Announcements For?
Otherwise, what or rather who, are these words for, even? Are these announcements for gamers or the shareholders? If these announcements are for gamers, I have often seen Nvidia miss the mark. It would be alright, and I would be a lot more forgiving if it was still a relatively smaller upstart. But now, I no longer want to settle for the bare minimum from Team Green. I don’t want to settle for the “be thankful that this mega corporation still cares” mentality.
No corporation is your friend; all of this is a business, an exchange. If I am supposed to pay (not like GeForce Now would be free), then I expect the service to be good. And for a company that has been trying to bring back GeForce Now since 2021, the meaning of “soon” should not be that complicated.
