Nvidia's GeForce Partner Program: What Is It?

Nvidia wants you to believe in the GeForce brand. To that end, the company introduced the GeForce Partner Program (GPP), an initiative meant to bridge the gap between Nvidia and the companies that make add-in cards or systems based on its tech. Those companies won't be required to join the program--Nvidia won't gate off new graphics tech behind this initiative--but they will be incentivized to do so with a grab bag of perks.

"So the new program means that we’ll be promoting our GPP partner brands across the web, on social media, at events and more," Nvidia said in a blog post. "And GPP partners will get early access to our latest innovations, and work closely with our engineering team to bring the newest technologies to gamers." The company isn't just offering free publicity; it's also teasing non-partners about what they're missing.

Those incentives might not seem all that, uh, incentivizing at first glance. Practically every company on Earth can promote its products via social media or at events, after all. Yet reducing the cost of advertising new products while offering early access to new technologies will simultaneously reduce the cost of making new products (marketing is expensive) and let companies seize on the latest-and-greatest tech earlier.

Nvidia said in its blog post that "partners are signing up, fast" because they "see the benefit of keeping brands and communication consistent and transparent." However, the company hasn't announced any partners in the weeks since that blog post was published, and manufacturers haven't revealed their GPP memberships themselves, either. Apparently transparency doesn't begin with knowing who's participating in the program.

So What's the Big Deal?

The lack of info hasn't stopped the GPP from being embroiled in controversy, however. HardOCP reported that Nvidia will require its partners to have their "Gaming Brand Aligned Exclusively With GeForce," based on "documents with this requirement spelled out on it." Companies are also said to be afraid that Nvidia will hold back GPUs from non-partners, which would limit their ability to release graphics cards reliant on those GPUs.

Those assertions contradict what Nvidia said in its own blog post:

The program isn’t exclusive. Partners continue to have the ability to sell and promote products from anyone. Partners choose to sign up for the program, and they can stop participating any time. There’s no commitment to make any monetary payments or product discounts for being part of the program.GPP ensures our engineering and marketing efforts support brands consumers associate with GeForce. That transparency will give gamers the confidence needed to make their purchase, whichever products they choose.

For now, we don't know if the GPP is merely supposed to encourage companies to work more closely with Nvidia, or if it's a thinly veiled threat to anyone who doesn't want to buddy up. Nvidia has not responded to our requests for comment, and OEMs aren't talking, either. What we do know is that Nvidia wants the GPP to protect the GeForce brand. Whether it succeeds or fails, we suspect the GPP will have a lasting effect on what people think about when they see the brand on a product.

Nathaniel Mott
Freelance News & Features Writer

Nathaniel Mott is a freelance news and features writer for Tom's Hardware US, covering breaking news, security, and the silliest aspects of the tech industry.

  • Dark Lord of Tech
    It's a ploy to lock you into just Nvidia cards , not right. :pfff:
    Reply
  • derekullo
    Sounds like the mafia selling "Optional Protection Insurance".
    Reply
  • shrapnel_indie
    TH is a little slow on getting to this, but they did get to it :)

    From what I understand, yeah... the non-exclusive boast only seems to apply to the non-gaming cards. i.e. "you can release all the GPU cards you want of brands x, y, and z along with "ours," but when it comes to your gaming line, you absolutely must side with us, and only us" type thing, while promoting loudly the non-exclusive part.

    Just like the HardOCP piece, you're going to have a hard time finding someone going on record (for whatever reason.) I assume for fear of breaking NDAs, retaliation, or some other reason that could hurt their bottom line. AMD has them nervous, and they are ready and willing to enact anti-competitive practices to ensure they minimize real AND potential damages.

    Some are already dismissing this potential anti-competitive activity and its half-truth non-exclusivity statement. Partly because AMD shopped it around, and that the HardOCP piece said there wasn't solid evidence provided. (Well, there was enough to suggest further investigation, but not enough to actually call them on it.) Also, some are willing to ignore the reputation of HardOCP just because nobody was willing to go on record, but divulged info under the condition of anonymity. Part of it is also the fan-boy aspect refusing to accept that NVidia is nervous about AMD, even though their best this last round wasn't enough to beat the GTX 1080Ti and the Titan series.
    Reply
  • dudmont
    Several thoughts, what's to stop any of the companies from coming up with a second gaming "brand" that only employs AMD GPUs? or, hiving off a new company altogether that only uses AMD GPUs? For what it's worth, it doesn't matter that much right now anyways, none of us are getting any new GPUs due to AMDs supply issues and the mining craze.
    Reply
  • redgarl
    Smell like the Mother Of All Program (MOAP) from intel. It seems like an attempt to monopolize the market.
    Reply
  • redgarl
    20814611 said:
    Several thoughts, what's to stop any of the companies from coming up with a second gaming "brand" that only employs AMD GPUs? or, hiving off a new company altogether that only uses AMD GPUs? For what it's worth, it doesn't matter that much right now anyways, none of us are getting any new GPUs due to AMDs supply issues and the mining craze.

    It is totally insane, the Rx 580 4GB cost around 600 CAD. It is not even a complicated card to manufacture. I am trying to buy one for my standalone 1080p rig, but I am not going to lay 600 CAD for a 580.

    It is crazy that they are selling even at these prices.

    Reply
  • Math Geek
    20814611 said:
    Several thoughts, what's to stop any of the companies from coming up with a second gaming "brand" that only employs AMD GPUs? or, hiving off a new company altogether that only uses AMD GPUs?

    that was exactly my thought as well. so now Asus is nvidia cards and Asis is amd cards. lol

    but it sure looks like an anti-competitive move to me and a thinly veiled one at that. AMD sure has them scared. hard for folks to remember, but AMD specifically stated they were not going for the top of the market. they wanted to hit the low/middle part of the market hard and fast and they succeeded pretty well. clearly nvidia is scared and are trying to prevent AMD from getting further grips on that piece of the pie.

    Reply
  • -Fran-
    20814611 said:
    Several thoughts, what's to stop any of the companies from coming up with a second gaming "brand" that only employs AMD GPUs? or, hiving off a new company altogether that only uses AMD GPUs? For what it's worth, it doesn't matter that much right now anyways, none of us are getting any new GPUs due to AMDs supply issues and the mining craze.

    Market size and positioning.

    AMD, like it or not, is not at the same level as nVidia in brand recognition. Also, nVidia commands like 90% of the gaming market? This is a big squeeze they're doing to their partners, just because they can. There's a lot of statistical data that say a person that has brand A will most likely keep on buying brand A when all other conditions are similar to purchasing brand B. In the GPU sector, you know nVidia has always a little edge over AMD, so market conditions are there for most of nVidia's user base to stay with them. That is a huge amount of money and nVidia knows it. Their partners also want part of that money pot, so they just bend over.

    Cheers!
    Reply
  • justin.m.beauvais
    Nothing mentioned in this article is part of anything I have an issue with. The part I have an issue with is the alleged part where partners get an earlier provisioning of GPUs and engineering assistance before non partners. That can make or break the companies that aren't propperly diversified, forcing them into the program. That is the noncompetitive part. Now, this is all alleged as there is no proof of it, but with no one in the industry talking about it, for whatever reasons (NDA, fear of reprisal, thinking it is nonsense, what have you) we may never know if it is true or not.
    Reply
  • 10tacle
    So am I to that as an AIB partner like ASUS that carries its ROG STRIX label with both AMD and GPUs as well as ROG motherboards and laptops are no longer going to be allowed to do that - and will have to come up with a unique name for their Nvidia GPUs? That is unfair business practice. I've always been for Team Green but this move may push me to go to Team Red for my next GPU. I will not support market manipulation like that even though I'm probably two years at least away from needing another GPU upgrade on my 1440p gaming rig.
    Reply