You can only get into PlayStation’s cloud gaming beta if you pay for the most expensive tier of PS Plus, Premium. With it, you’ll get online feature cancertoto and access to hundreds of streamable titles including Death Stranding and God of War as well as a healthy library of throwbacks from the PS1 and PS2 era. You don’t need the strongest internet to start streaming on PS Plus, and it even has the lowest minimum required network specs at 5 Mbps.
Both the current Playstation and Xbox controller can be used to play cloud games on your phone. Depending on the cloud gaming service, you might even have to use one – you can’t play with your Keyboard and Mouse on Xbox Cloud Gaming, for example. To access the games, you use your cloud gaming browser or a specific app, either on a PC or on a mobile device. There may be contention over which major gaming brands make the best hardware—but for most folks, it really just comes down to the games themselves to determine where you’re going to play them.
Still, for under $10/month, it’s a no-fuss entry point into cloud gaming. GeForce Now stands tall for gamers who already own large libraries on Steam, Epic, or GOG. With up to 4K/120FPS streaming on the “Ultimate” plan ($19.99/month), it’s perfect for those wanting ultra settings without owning a high-end rig. And unlike other services, you can’t buy individual games in order to continue to play them via the cloud (like Stadia Pro) or locally (without losing progress) when they leave the rotation. The rest comes in add-on channels, which currently include family ($6 a month), retro ($5 a month), Jackbox games ($5 a month) and Ubisoft Plus (a whopping $18 a month for less than 40 games). So if you’re not a Prime member, the total monthly cost can range from $10 to $44.
What Are The Top-rated Game Streaming Platforms?
Instead of a game console in the cloud, GeForce Now works with the games you already own on Steam, the Epic Games Store, and other PC gaming platforms. Free users can play for an hour at a time with the games they already own, and they may need to queue. Although sessions are limited to an hour, you can start another session immediately. The $5 per month paid tier gives users immediate access and a six-hour session length, and it allows you to turn on ray tracing in supported games. On the cloud side, you essentially have access to a gaming PC in a data center. Each service handles its servers a little differently, though.
Step 5: Assessing Performance
Then again, GeForce Now is an excellent option if you have access to a strong Steam or Epic Games Store library. And then you could look at something like Shadow, which allows you access to a fully working PC to effectively use how you wish (though still under a fair number of constraints). Users can game at different resolutions, ranging from 720p to 4K, with frame rates reaching up to 120fps in most titles. As long as you have a high-bandwidth connection and the money to spend, you can get great gaming performance from GeForce Now. That’s changing now that Apple has started working with game makers to get their games running well on Mac chips.
It gives you five separate accounts, parental controls, an ad-free experience, no in-game purchases, and the ability to stop playing on one device and continue on another. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate costs just $14.99 per month, but some free titles (like Fortnite) can be played at no cost. Support for playing games that you already own through your Xbox account is actively being expanded as of 2024. And that’s all before you consider what service best suits your needs. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate currently sits at the top of the ladder since it’s an all-in-one experience allowing you to play a motley of current titles without having to buy them separately.
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Nintendo Switch Online is a paid subscription service that lets members play games online with friends. It launched on September 18, 2018, and offers several benefits beyond just online play. You can play your PC games on phones, tablets, or older computers. This makes high-end gaming possible without expensive hardware. The service updates its game library every Thursday, regularly adding new titles. This keeps the selection fresh and gives players more options to enjoy.
PlayStation Now, Sony’s former cloud streaming service, has been discontinued and folded into PlayStation Plus. Booting up “Control” with Luna in Chrome for Android prompted an unsupported browser warning. This despite the fact that Luna specifically claims to support Chrome on Android. Nonetheless, I clicked to continue regardless, and the game booted.
It’s pretty simple; you just need a reliable internet connection and a subscription to a cloud gaming provider. You can even access a global library by using a VPN to connect to other service locations — learn more in our guide to the 10 best VPN providers. It lets you play video games over the internet, just like streaming a movie.
No, cloud gaming does not require a high-end or “good” PC, as all of the processing and graphics rendering happens remotely on external servers. You can start playing your favorite games with less processing power — all you need is a fast, reliable internet connection. Check out our guide on how to speed up your internet connection if yours is a little slow. Nware is a new Cloud platform that will allow you to play games without the necessity of having other gadgets, such as a PC or a gaming console. It is attempting to be presented as the Cloud game service app of a new generation, trying to change the world of Cloud games.
Enjoy the console games you love on the devices you already have with Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta). You can play using an Xbox Wireless Controller, Sony DualShock 4, and more – or play supported games with touch controls. Share Play functionality extends cloud gaming’s social potential. Invite friends to join your streamed games or hand over control remotely, creating collaborative gaming sessions across different devices and locations.
Luna remains the most affordable and easiest-to-use game streaming platform in 2025. With a modest but curated selection of 100+ games, it offers 1080p–4K streaming via Luna+ or through Prime Gaming access. The process is not as seamless on PS Plus and will often require a manual sync. With cloudbase you can find out which cloud gaming service supports a game. Ready to level up your gaming experience without investing in expensive hardware? We bring you the latest news, in-depth reviews, and comprehensive guides to navigate the ever-expanding world of cloud gaming platforms and their incredible libraries.