Christmas is coming up and you may be considering buying or gifting video games. But did you know that there are also “all you can eat” subscription offers? As with Netflix, Disney +, Amazon Prime or Apple TV + in the field of movies and television series, you only have to pay a certain amount per month to benefit from a large catalog of games, or even play directly on the cloud, if you have a fast enough internet connection. A brief description of the main offers available:
Sony PlayStation now
The PlayStation Now subscription service costs $ 9.99 per month, or $ 24.99 every three months, or $ 59.99 per year. Enables streaming and multiplayer play of PlayStation 2/3/4 games on a PC or PayStation 4/5 console. It provides access to around 800 online games, 300 of which can be downloaded on PlayStation 4 or 5. Sony announced in April that streaming would go from 720p to 1080p.
The manufacturer also offers the PlayStation Plus subscription (8.99 euros per month, or 24.99 euros for three months, or 59.99 euros per year), which gives access to new free games every month, in multiplayer mode, discounts , as well as 100 GB. online storage to save your games.
Microsoft Xbox Game Pass
Microsoft offers its Xbox Game Pass Console service (9.99 euros per month) that gives access to more than 100 games and discounts on purchases. The offering also includes a library of the best Electronic Arts titles. The Ultimate version (12.99 euros per month) also allows you to play in the cloud and adds the Xbox Live Gold service. Normally billed 6.99 euros per month, it offers an online multiplayer mode and new free titles that are offered every month.
Microsoft launched its cloud games (known as xCloud) initially on Android and Windows machines, then on iOS and macOS devices as a web app. It has about 300 games. Microsoft is expected to offer its service for the Xbox One and Xbox Series X consoles | S later this year.
Nintendo online
Nintendo charges its Switch Online service 3.99 euros per month, or 7.99 euros for 3 months, or 19.99 euros per year. It allows multiple players to play online compatible titles, access a catalog of 100 NES and Super NES games, store backups in the cloud and benefit from exclusive offers.
For 39.99 euros per year, the Additional Package formula also gives access to the Nintendo 64 and Sega Mega Drive games, as well as the Animal Crossing New Horizons – Happy Home Paradise DLC. On the other hand, the Japanese manufacturer ignores for the moment the cloud games.
Google Stadia
Stadia is the platform for cloud games of Google. Works with laptops, desktops, Chromecast boxes, and Android TVs, as well as some compatible smartphones (Pixel, Samsung Galaxy, OnePlus among others). It also works with iPhones and iPads thanks to a web application that runs in the Safari browser.
The Stadia Pro subscription costs 9.99 euros per month and gives access to around thirty free games, with regular additions every month. Please note that some games, including Destiny 2, Crayta and Super Bomberman R Online, are accessible for free without subscription. Users can also purchase games from a catalog that currently has more than 250 titles.
Nvidia GeForce now
GeForce NOW service allows you to stream on Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad, Android device, as well as Shield TV box. It is available for free with sessions limited to one hour. Nvidia also offers a priority subscription for 9.99 euros per month or 49.99 euros for 6 months.
This subscription provides priority access to game servers, with 6-hour sessions and up to 1080p 60fps screen thanks to more powerful GPUs.
The manufacturer finally offers a subscription for 99.99 euros for 6 months that gives access to RTX 3080 servers, with 8-hour gaming sessions and a screen of up to 1440p and 120 fps for PC and Mac, or even in 4K in boxes of TV Shield.
The service can also be run on the Chrome browser on PC and Mac x86. Provides access to over 100 free games, as well as more than 1,000 paid games.
Also to discover on video:
The other actors
Publisher Ubisoft offers its subscription service Ubisoft + in two versions. The PC Access version (14.99 euros per month) gives access to more than 100 PC games, to new releases when they are launched and to Premium editions, which contain, for example, DLC. It also includes the Ubisoft Connect service, for example, to allow players on different platforms to communicate with each other. The Multi Access version (17.99 euros per month) also adds the possibility of playing in cloud games in some of the publisher’s games (around twenty at present) thanks to Stadia.
Shadow offers a high-end PC in the cloud for 29.99 euros per month. The Windows 10 PC is equipped with a 4-core Intel Xeon processor, 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card or equivalent (displays up to 60fps in 4K UHD).
It can be accessed via streaming from a computer, smartphone, or tablet. It also works with Android TV and Apple TV systems. On the other hand, it is up to the customer to be responsible for providing games to their virtual machine, for example through Steam or Epic Game Sore.
Keep in mind that Netflix is making a timid entry into the world of video games, offering five games on mobile devices to its subscribers, at no additional cost. Finally, Amazon launched its service cloud games Luna, but it is not available in France.
Introvert. Beer guru. Communicator. Travel fanatic. Web advocate. Certified alcohol geek. Tv buff. Subtly charming internet aficionado.
