OBS Studio 33 adds NVIDIA NVENC hardware encoding for Arm64, drops Ubuntu 24.04

As part of OBS Studio 33.0 update the project added support for hardware encoding on Arm64 platforms. With the addition the project now allows to stream using NVIDIA NVENC on newer Apple Silicon as well as Windows Arm platforms without falling back to software. The new release for the software is an important one as it brings some additional hardware acceleration support for those not using traditional x86 platforms anymore. The OBS Studio 33.0 release also includes a major upgrade for the engine with better stability and compatibility improvements across the supported platforms.

Major update brings NVIDIA NVENC to Apple Silicon and Windows Arm platforms

The OBS Project has published the OBS Studio 33.0 update for Windows x64/Arm64, macOS (Intel/Apple Silicon) as well as Ubuntu 26.04 (x86-64). With the update the project now removes support for Ubuntu 24.04 and those on Linux that still use the 24.04 version will need to update or move to a supported version. The software is available for download as part of the official OBS Project GitHub repository globally.

With the update the project moved Chromium Embedded Framework to 150 from 127 version. It’s an important change given how it will have an effect on the software interface with how the embedded browser is handling things and web-based plugins. The project also added a new plugin loading feature.

Keep in mind that the release still includes support for legacy plugins. The OBS Team has already confirmed that the project will remove support for legacy plugins with version 34.0.

With OBS Studio 33.0 update the project is also addressing some issues that were causing problems during streaming sessions. For instance it includes a fix for an issue where AMD AMF had a miscalculation in the B-frame offset that was causing disconnects for users on that specific encoder. Now for game capture support the project includes improvements to detect fullscreen as well as having source snap support for full axes. Overall the changes are aiming to make it easier for users to capture content from full-screen applications.

While monitoring OBS project releases we took a look at the ReactOS ARM64 Milestone and highlighted how support for Arm64 continues to grow across different software projects. With the OBS Studio 33.0 release the project now includes support for NVIDIA NVENC and overall it’s another example of how the streaming software is being optimized for non-x86 platforms. Users on Arm64 hardware can now take advantage of features that were either not supported before or required a workaround. Overall it’s an important update for those that are interested in managing streaming services on newer hardware.