The Best Cloud Gaming Services

Cloud gaming is one of the most exciting innovations in recent years. The idea of playing games that would normally require a high-powered, expensive gaming PC on any device is appealing, even if it’s a bit of a pipe dream. Although the advertising for cloud gaming lands on the hyperbolic side of things, some of the claims are true. 

In this guide, we’re going to explore the best cloud gaming services that deliver on the promises they set forth.Using the criteria in our cloud gaming reviews, we tracked down the top three services in each category. We’ll talk about why we rank each service so highly, as well as what we looked for in each category, before declaring an overall winner.

What Is Cloud Gaming?

If you want to go into detail about what cloud gaming is and how it works, be sure to read our how does cloud gaming work guide. For this section, we’re going to provide a brief overview. 

The term “cloud gaming” refers to playing a game remotely from the cloud. In nearly every case, “cloud” refers to a network of data centers filled to the brim with servers that deliver content to whomever is trying to access it. For a more familiar point of reference, Netflix or any other streaming platform delivers videos from the cloud.

Cloud gaming does a similar thing. When signing up for a service, you’re buying access to a remote server that’s outfitted with hardware for running games. Then, after you launch a game, a video stream of that game is sent to your machine.

How does cloud gaming work?

Cloud gaming is a technology that allows you to play video games without being installed on your computer or console. Instead, games are stored on remote servers and streamed during play. This means you can play games in high quality no matter how slow or old your device is.

Cloud gaming uses large, centralized servers that can stream your game to your computer or device. The process is similar to streaming music or movies, but requires a fast connection. It works on the same technology as Netflix and other streaming services.The game constantly responds to commands entered from your device and sends them over the internet to cloud servers. The server then returns an image of what is happening at that moment and the device displays it on the screen as quickly as possible.

This means every time a player joins the game. You can press mouse or controller buttons, move your character in first person view, or type in chat. Everything happens in milliseconds. If there is a delay between the player typing and the image appearing on the screen, it's clear that there is a problem with the connection.

Cloud game servers serve games directly on your computer or device. That means you don't need lots of downloads or large files. This makes it easy to play games without worrying about downloading and installing them on your device.