Latest Nvidia drivers to be locked behind GeForce Experience app

Soon to be even more essential...

The decades-old process of searching out graphics drivers on the web will be somewhat limited for Nvidia cards come December. That's when the company will begin pushing out its regular "Game Ready Driver" updates exclusively through the existing GeForce Experience (GFE) app, and will begin requiring users to register an account to get them.

Nvidia will still release quarterly driver updates via its website and through the OS-level Windows Update feature. But the Game Ready Drivers, which have included optimizations for every big-name game release in the past few years, will soon only be available to people who have signed up for GFE with an account tied to their e-mail address. The GFE app currently has no such login requirements.

Nvidia says that a "mid-to-high 90 percent" of its users already use GeForce experience to download drivers at a single click. Still, the new login requirements are likely to be seen as an unnecessary burden to many users, especially those concerned with their privacy and handing out their personal information.