This month’s GeForce NOW Steam Deck news is a big one. NVIDIA’s November lineup brings 24 games to its cloud service, eight of them arriving this week, and Hogwarts Legacy is getting a DLSS 5 upgrade in the cloud with what NVIDIA calls “3D-Guided Neural Rendering”. Because GeForce NOW has an app that runs on SteamOS, I’ve gone through the whole list to work out which games are worth streaming on a Deck and which ones you’re better off playing natively.
All the Deck ratings and controller labels below come from Steam’s store data, so where a game says Unknown, it simply means Valve hasn’t tested it yet. I haven’t played these through GeForce NOW myself, so treat my calls as a guide based on how each game is rated and how demanding it is.
Hogwarts Legacy gets DLSS 5 in the cloud
The headline feature is for Ultimate members. Hogwarts Legacy now streams with DLSS 5, which NVIDIA says brings more lifelike lighting and materials, running at RTX 5080-class performance in the cloud. You can read more about the tech in NVIDIA’s DLSS 5 article.
It’s worth being clear about what this means on a handheld. Hogwarts Legacy is already Steam Deck Verified, so you don’t need to stream it to play it. What streaming gets you is a far better-looking version of Hogsmeade and the castle than the Deck can render on its own, and much better battery life, because the Deck is only decoding a video stream.
World of Warcraft: Forever and the rest of this week
The other big name this week is World of Warcraft: Forever, which launched on Battle.net on 4 November. Eligible members on all tiers can claim a launch-week access reward until 11 November at 11:59 p.m. PT (07:59 UK time on 12 November), while supplies last, and Premium members get around 100 CurseForge add-ons available at launch. WoW isn’t on Steam, so getting it running natively on a Deck means a Battle.net workaround through Proton. That makes it one of the strongest picks to stream this month.
The rest of this week’s batch is a mix. County of Fortune is a new release on 5 November, but it’s Deck Unknown with no controller support listed, so I’d stream it and expect to set up a controller layout. CURE – A Hospital Simulator and Probably Stolen – Cyberpunk Shopkeeper Sim are both Playable with no controller support listed, and SpiritVale is Playable with partial controller support, so streaming is a handy option for all three. Leaf it Alone is Verified with full controller support, so there’s no need to stream that one.
Planet Zoo 2 and RuneScape: Dragonwilds arrive as their Epic Games Store versions. Planet Zoo 2 is Verified on Steam but demanding, with an RTX 2060 listed as the minimum GPU, so the cloud gives you much better visuals. Dragonwilds is Playable on Steam with partial controller support, and it’s well worth streaming if you already own it on Epic.
Ubisoft additions and last week’s highlights
Ubisoft fans get two big expansions: The Division 2: Echoes of Central Park and Anno 117: Pax Romana, Dawn of the Delta. GeForce NOW handles the downloads and updates, so you can jump straight in. Both base games are Deck Playable, with The Division 2 having partial controller support, and both are heavy enough that streaming makes a real difference.
In case you missed it, last week’s update brought Phantom Blade Zero to the service, plus mod support for Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3. If you’d rather run Phantom Blade Zero locally, I’ve covered the tweaks that make it playable on Steam Deck, and the previous GFN Thursday post has the full details.
Rest of November on GeForce NOW
Later in the month, the big one is Cyberpunk 2077 arriving on 10 November for its Battle.net and Xbox versions, with Play Anywhere support. The Steam version is Verified, but it’s heavy on a Deck, so streaming is a big visual upgrade. If you’re on a Steam Machine instead, my Cyberpunk 2077 Steam Machine tests show how well it runs locally. Baldur’s Gate 3 is also coming via Xbox with Play Anywhere. It’s Verified on Steam, but Act 3 is heavy on the Deck, so it’s another good one to stream.
Ashes of the Singularity II lands on 10 November too. It’s Deck Unknown with partial controller support, and as a heavy RTS it’s an easy call to stream. Warhammer Survivors arrives the same day on Steam and Xbox Game Pass, and it’s Verified with full controller support, so it’s fine natively, though Game Pass subscribers can stream it. Graveyard Keeper 2 joins via Epic and GOG, and World of Tanks: Blitz comes through the Wargaming launcher, so streaming saves you the third-party launcher hassle on SteamOS in both cases.
Which games to stream on Steam Deck
Here’s the full list at a glance, with each game’s store on GeForce NOW, its Steam Deck rating and controller support from Steam’s store data, and my call.
| Game | Store on GFN | Deck rating | Controller | My call |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World of Warcraft: Forever (4 Nov) | Battle.net | Not on Steam | – | Stream |
| County of Fortune (5 Nov) | Steam | Unknown | None listed | Stream |
| CURE – A Hospital Simulator | Steam | Playable | None listed | Stream |
| Leaf it Alone | Steam | Verified | Full | Native |
| Planet Zoo 2 | Epic | Verified (Steam) | – | Stream |
| Probably Stolen – Cyberpunk Shopkeeper Sim | Steam | Playable | None listed | Stream |
| RuneScape: Dragonwilds | Epic | Playable (Steam) | Partial | Stream |
| SpiritVale | Steam | Playable | Partial | Stream |
| Ashes of the Singularity II (10 Nov) | Steam | Unknown | Partial | Stream |
| Cyberpunk 2077 (10 Nov) | Battle.net, Xbox | Verified (Steam) | – | Stream |
| Warhammer Survivors (10 Nov) | Steam, Game Pass | Verified | Full | Native |
| Main Sequence (12 Nov) | Steam | Unknown | None listed | Stream |
| Volvy’s Adventure: Reslimed (19 Nov) | Steam | Unknown | Full | Either |
| Appulse (26 Nov) | Steam | Unknown | Full | Either |
| Baldur’s Gate 3 | Xbox | Verified (Steam) | – | Stream |
| Deadly Days: Roadtrip | Steam | Verified | Full | Native |
| Gone Fishing | Steam | Playable | Partial | Either |
| Graveyard Keeper | Steam | Playable | Full | Native |
| Graveyard Keeper 2 | Epic, GOG | – | – | Stream |
| Quasimorph | Steam | Verified | Full | Native |
| Tape to Tape | Steam | Verified | Full | Native |
| The Spell Brigade | Steam | Verified | Partial | Native |
| Village in the Shade | Steam | Verified | Full | Native |
| World of Tanks: Blitz | Wargaming | – | – | Stream |
The rest of the month’s indies are mostly easy calls. Main Sequence (12 November) is Unknown with no controller support listed, so I’d stream it. Volvy’s Adventure: Reslimed (19 November) and Appulse (26 November) are still Unknown but have full controller support, so they’ll likely be fine either way. Deadly Days: Roadtrip, Quasimorph, Tape to Tape, The Spell Brigade and Village in the Shade are all Verified, and Graveyard Keeper is Playable with full controller support, so I’d play those natively. Gone Fishing is Playable with partial controller support.
GeForce NOW Steam Deck picks: stream or play natively?
On the Deck, the clear wins for streaming are the non-Steam launches (WoW: Forever, Graveyard Keeper 2 and World of Tanks: Blitz), the heavy games (Cyberpunk 2077, Baldur’s Gate 3, Planet Zoo 2, Ashes of the Singularity II, Anno 117, The Division 2 and Hogwarts Legacy with DLSS 5), and the games with no or partial controller support. The Verified indies run fine locally, so there’s no need to spend your streaming hours on them.
What about Steam Machine and Steam Frame?
The Steam Machine has a lot more headroom, so streaming matters mainly for the non-Steam games and for getting DLSS 5 and RTX visuals on a 4K TV. For couch play, the games with full controller support are the easiest to pick up.
On the Steam Frame, none of these are VR games. You can stream the GeForce NOW app as a flat screen on the headset, but that’s a niche way to play, and it suits slower games like Planet Zoo 2, Anno 117 and Baldur’s Gate 3 best.
My verdict
November is a strong month for GeForce NOW on Valve’s hardware. Hogwarts Legacy with DLSS 5 is the showpiece, but for Deck owners the real value is WoW: Forever, Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur’s Gate 3, where the cloud does the heavy lifting. If you missed last week’s batch, my guide to streaming Gears of War: E-Day and nine more games on Steam Deck covers those too. As always, a strong, stable connection makes all the difference.
