Top 5 of The Best Cloud Gaming Services Currently Available(2019) and Upcoming Services(Updated)

Not everybody can afford a decent Gaming PC to fulfill the desire of playing their favorite games, But now with advancements in technologies one can play high-end games on potato PCs or laptops and even on the smartphones.   

Is it getting difficult to choose from a wide range of services available? We got you covered with 5 of the Best Cloud Gaming Services available.

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But before discussing the services available,one should know that how cloud gaming works and whom can it benefit.

How Does Cloud Gaming Works?

Cloud Gaming is the need of all the modern gamers who can't afford a console or a gaming PC and it delivers an immersive gaming experience using the power of powerful servers and the internet.

So,basically the cloud gaming services stash some powerful gaming rigs to their servers,or they partner with other cloud computing companies to get some powerful servers ready.

After buying subscription for these services,one can play any game with a good internet connection for free or has to buy the game in some cases.

So,what happens behind the scenes!? Is that your question? So,when you (the player) inputs a command,it goes to the Virtual Machine via the cloud servers.

Then the machine outputs the video to your device via cloud servers,its that simple but one should choose a server nearest to them to reduce latency (Option is provided by Cloud Service)

Best Cloud Gaming Services of 2019

So now that we know that how the cloud gaming works,lets check some of the best cloud gaming services available.

1.PlayStation Now

Saddest people on the planet are gamers who cannot play exclusive titles but with PlayStation Now subscription  you can overcome your sadness,all you need is a controller and a PC with good internet connection.

It has more than 250 PS4 games on the list and more PS2 and PS3 games to fill the catalog and a new game being added every month.

PS Now offers a 7-day free trial after which it costs $9.99/month to stream a huge variety of games.

It is the reduced price which is applicable from October on wards.

Pros

• Large collection of games at very low price
• All the PS4 exclusives available
• Free Trial available

Cons

• Currently available in only few countries
• Not available for android

2.PlayKey

PlayKey unlike PS Now,works on a hourly subscription where the user has to pay for no. of hours the person has to play,Where the price ranges between $2 for 1 hour to $100 for 100 hours.

What i feel is PlayKey is not for hardcore gamers who can play for several hours a day as it would cost around $150/month which is most expensive in this list of best cloud gaming services.

Most of the games are available for free to subscribed users but some games must be bought to be able to play it on PlayKey.

Pros

• Large collection of games.
• Low latency
• Available worldwide

Cons

• Not for hard core gamers
• Most expensive option
• Most of the games has to be bought separately
• Not available for android

3.Geforce Now

After the NVIDIA GRID,the company has been working on the Geforce Now which has been in beta stage for an eternity now :),but Nvidia is ready for the launch in first few months of 2020.

It is still in the beta stage and people living in North America and Europe can apply to become a beta tester for free and try all the cool games on the cloud.

Pricing are not yet confirmed but considering the launch of Google Stadia in 2020,Nvidia will settle at a lower price to stay competitive.

Pros

• Free beta available
• 120+ FPS promised

Cons

• Only available for North America and Europe
• In Beta stage for very long time

4.Parsec

Turn your single player games into online multiplayer game using Parsec.

Play your favorite old time arcade games directly on your PC or mobile phone.

Parsec has a different approach towards cloud gaming,basically its just a streaming platform where the host(any player around the world with good computer) host a game on their computer and the receiver joins the game and play through the cloud network of Parsec. 

Earlier It used to be a proper Cloud Gaming Service with an option to rent a cloud computer but in the month of September the company decided to discontinue the option to rent a cloud computer for new users.

So,now the Parsec is Player-to-Player streaming platform where host and receiver can connect from anywhere in the world.

Pros

• It is a free service
• Can play with friends
• Cloud Gaming on android is available 
• Can be used anywhere Chrome,Windows,mac and Smartphones

Cons

• High latency sometimes
• Game catalog is small

5.Vortex

Vortex is the platform I use the most nowadays to play games on my smartphone as it is cheap and most reliable cloud gaming service in my country India.

Vortex Subscription costs only $9.99/month but one has to buy some games separately from steam in order to play them using Vortex.It can be downloaded on Play Store for free.

Pros

• Internet requirements are low
• Can be used on Smart TV,chrome,Windows and MacOS
• Cloud Gaming on android is available

Cons

• Game library is not up to date
• Some games need to bought separately 

Upcoming: Amazon Gaming,Google Stadia,Microsoft's x cloud,EA's Atlas

Above mentioned are the key players of the market currently but some big names are all set to make an entry in this sector.

Amazon is also planning to launch its very own cloud gaming service,no one knows much about the service as no official announcement has been made but many trusted sources like The Verge and The Information have reported about the upcoming service.

Google Stadia is one of the major upcoming Cloud Gaming Service and is the most awaited one with some promising features such as 4K resolution game play at 60 FPS on TVs and chrome browser,Launching games directly from YouTube enabling streamers to play with their subscribers directly from the stream itself.

Microsoft's x cloud can be another strong contender in the market releasing in Q1 of 2020.Currently Microsoft is running an invite only beta test for the service,so,follow the link above and register yourself for the beta test if you reside in US,UK or Korea.

EA is also planning to enter the market with its Project Atlas.With a lot of big names nearing their launch EA would not want to take much time for the release and to achieve this early launch EA has opened its technical testing to the audience for Atlas and we will be witnessing the launch of Atlas with all other big names in the year 2020 itself.

(Updated on 13/10/19) Jio is also planning to join the market with its jio 4k setup box which is available in India.This service is quite different from others in the list but can make huge impact on the Indian market,Where jio 4k setup box comes for free with the Jio Fiber broadband where the plans range from Rs.800-8000/month which includes Internet charges,gaming services and other OTT services.

Conclusion: Gaming Anytime,Anywhere

Just as video streaming platforms like Amazon Prime and Netflix distorted the market of DVDs and CDs cloud gaming services will be doing same with the gaming industry.

Most of these services like PS Now and Vortex are already very successful in the industry but now some strong  competitors are about to disrupt their audience to gain new heights of success,Google Stadia is one key competitor to lookout for.

So,grab your controllers and hit up the cloud to play your favorite games right from yours TVs,smartphones or PCs

Do you have any experience with such services,if so which one is your favorite?do let me know in the comments.

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