In 2019, there were about more than one-third of the earth’s population of video gamers across the world. As per techieplus.net, video gaming has not only become a passion but a profession too. But this passion can’t be pursued by some due to the absence of high-performance computers for most. This is where the idea of cloud gaming steps in.
What Is Cloud Gaming?
The basic ideation behind cloud gaming is to smoothly run games that permanently require an expensive, high-powered gaming PC, on any device. It suggests merely playing on a game, remotely, through the cloud. If you know about AWS Technology, cloud gaming is something precisely similar.
Cloud gaming is just like controlling another computer through TeamViewer. It only requires a stable internet connection and a host for the streaming.
Free Cloud Gaming
As the principle of the technology contains a huge revolutionary idea, so does the price of it, not only as a one time purchase option but also for its maintenance. It has not yet been out in the market for free use as of now, and if one finds a similar such claiming to be of no cost, better not use it.
Top 5 Cloud Gaming Services
Cloud services, also known as Gaming as a service(GaaS), has produced a new market and product for the tech companies. Many tech giants are either building their own or joining hands, as rumored, to develop their very own, combined efforted cloud services project. Top 5 cloud gaming services currently surfing the wave heights to prove to be the best clouds are:
Shadow
Shadow is, currently, a United States based cloud game streaming service available at an expensive pricing model of $35 per month without any free trial. It is optimized for even moderate connection speeds, which is suitable for remote areas.
It has a dedicated custom cross-platform application, which is easy to use. An ultra low latency mode provides an even and smoother experience. Exceptionally, it can switch devices in the middle of the game.
Vortex
Affordable pricing model at $9.99 per month, Vortex is considered to be the most affordable cloud services out there in the market. More than 100 titles to choose from, which include many of the modern AAA titles and trending games, it has a custom cross-platform app for ease of use and easy switching.
Vortex uses considerably less powerful GPUs, which are not viable for running games at high quality. One saddening con of this cloud service is that it has no free trial period, meaning you’ve to spend money even to try it.
Nvidia GeForce Now
Nvidia GeForce Now supports more than 400 titles and has access to digital stores like Steam and UPlay. The best part about this is that no maintenance is required as patches and updates are applied automatically as soon as they arrive. It has an ultra streaming mode for even low latency. With the ability to stream games at 4K 120fps, Nvidia GeForce Now is currently in beta mode and only available if you live in Europe and the US.
PlayStation Now
PlayStation is the most common and known game streaming service and has a massive library of more than 700 PS2, PS3, and PS4 games. It gives the ability of unlimited downloads among 250 PS4 games. Reasonably priced at a subscription of $19.99 per month, it has an ultra streaming mode for even low latency. But this service doesn’t only require an internet connection plus a subscription. One needs to buy its PS4 controller to use it.
Google Stadia
Google Stadia, as promised by google that it would be the best cloud gaming service when announced in March 2019, has stood up to the mark as launched in November 2019. It was claimed to have integration with other prominent Google services, like YouTube Gaming, which it does.
It promised to provide Ultra High-End specifications of the server to give the best gaming experience. A 10 Mbps connection would be enough for 720p 60Fps gaming, which is good news for even rural areas. It would be a promising future as Google backs it.
One notable mention would be the upcoming Microsoft xCloud for Cloud Gaming on XBox.
Final note
Each one of the cloud services, mentioned or not mentioned, has a separate story of the pros and cons of its own. Still, in the end, the only one to survive is the ones to overpower and overcome their disadvantages or use them for their services’ benefit.
