4 days ago
Shadow Unveils ‘Neo' Cloud PC with RTX‑Level Power
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai
Shadow has rolled out its Neo cloud PC tier, immediately replacing its Boost offering across Europe and North America. Priced from $37.99 a month, Neo delivers performance aiming at NVIDIA RTX 4060-class levels and is supported on fibre links up to 1 Gb/s.
Powered by an eight‑vCore AMD EPYC processor clocked between 3.25 GHz and 3.8 GHz and equipped with 16 GB DDR5 RAM, Neo uses Nvidia's RTX 2000 ADA GPU—a server‑grade equivalent to the consumer RTX 4060 with 16 GB VRAM. It supports DirectX 12, Vulkan 1.3, real‑time ray tracing, and both DLSS and FSR upscaling, delivering up to 150 per cent higher frame‑rate in gaming and 200 per cent improved throughput in professional software over the previous Boost tier.
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Users continue to receive a full Windows PC environment, installable applications, mod support, peripheral compatibility, and operation across devices—including Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, smart TVs, and browsers. Existing Boost subscribers have been automatically migrated to Neo at no extra cost.
The service launch highlights Shadow's intent to appeal to both gaming and creative professionals. In an announcement, Shadow's CEO Olivier Abecassis described Neo as its 'newest and most versatile cloud PC yet', capable of handling demanding workloads from 2K gaming to complex 3D editing. Since the company's original debut in 2017, it has expanded to serve over 700,000 users across 14 countries, and Neo extends that reach into gaming, B2B, engineering, architecture, and media sectors.
Early feedback is largely positive. A player on Reddit reported a 40 per cent performance boost in titles like Kerbal Space Program, while some noted that resource-heavy apps like Discord could push the cloud CPU to its limits. Community comments suggest the CPU remains a potential pain point, with one user observing full utilisation 'when all I have is Discord, and almost ANY game open'.
Pricing positions Neo competitively among cloud PC offerings. At $37.99, it undercuts some rivals while delivering hardware close to mid‑range modern gaming rigs. That said, sceptics argue that long‑term subscription fees may exceed the cost of a self‑built PC with comparable specs, particularly when factoring resale value and hardware depreciation.
Shadow continues to refine its infrastructure. Earlier this year, the company referenced ongoing upgrades to backbone systems intended to support new service tiers—anticipating Neo among these developments. Its stated aim is to offer elastic, high‑performance Windows environments ubiquitously, with transparent monthly billing and no maintenance overhead.
The service supports full SSD storage and up to 5 TB HDD, covering a wide range of user needs from game libraries to multimedia and professional projects. It also includes advanced features such as remote drag‑and‑drop transfers, multi‑monitor support, and H.265 streaming for low‑bandwidth scenarios.
Cloud gaming rivals, including NVIDIA's GeForce NOW and Amazon Luna, have emphasised accessibility and platform exclusives. Shadow differentiates by offering a full virtual desktop, enabling mods, third‑party software installations, and extended workflows beyond pure gaming.
Industry analysts view Neo's launch as a sign of the growing pivot toward cloud productivity among both gamers and professionals. The inclusion of an AMD EPYC CPU and server‑grade GPU suggests Shadow is targeting a hybrid user base, emphasising creative workflows as much as frame‑rate. Maintaining low latency via fibre and ensuring robust multi‑core CPU performance remain crucial to its competitiveness.
