There are plenty of game subscription services out there, but which ones are worth your money and time?
The game industry is acting like following in the footsteps of the movie/TV business.
Game-subscription services have boomed in popularity in recent years.
With that in mind, we’ve rounded up the best game-subscription services available now.
In the coming months, we’ll continue to update this list as services evolve and change.
Perhaps we’ll even be able to add new subscription services to this list.
Xbox subscription services
Let’s kick things off with Microsoft’s suite of subscription services.
And much like Netflix, Game Pass specializes in variety.
Part of what makes Xbox Game Pass so great are its day-one releases.
Every first-party Microsoft release is available on the service the day the game launches.
Day-one releases alone make Game Pass Ultimate worthwhile.
On top of that, the service often gets AAA third-party games notthatlong after launch.
You also get discounts on EA games and DLC, including brand-new releases.
PC Game Pass occasionally gets exclusives, though.
Xbox Cloud Gaming works with iOS, Android, and PC.
Xbox Game Pass is $10 per month.
We recommend PC Game Pass over any other subscription service that focuses on PC gaming.
The freebies have been, let’s say, underwhelming for years now.
Overall, the main perk here is access to online multiplayer.
The subscription costs $60 per year or $10 per month.
Let’s break down all three tiers.
The main perk that makes it a must for most PS5 and PS4 owners is access to online multiplayer.
The vast majority of games that support online multiplayer on PlayStation require an Essential subscription.
That said, PlayStation Plus Essential offers better value than Xbox Live Gold.
You get three free games each month, but sometimes one of the freebies is only available on PS5.
PS5 versions of some games are sprinkled in here and there, but it’s mainly PS4 titles.
PlayStation Plus Extra costs $15 per month or $100 for a 12-month membership.
So, is it worth the cost?
Right now, yes.
PlayStation has been adding games to the service each month, though.
August has brought multiple Yakuza games, with more to come to round out the franchise.
If you’re new to PlayStation, we’d highly recommend subscribing to at least the Extra tier.
But, naturally, it has the most content.
PS Plus Premium unlocks the Classics library, PS3 games, and game streaming on console and PC.
All told, you practically double the PS Plus library by going with Premium over Extra.
Out of the hundreds of games in the Premium library, the majority are PS3 games.
Instead, you have to stream them.
If you have a solid internet connection, PS3 game streaming works incredibly well.
Ratchet & Clank, and many more hit franchises represented.
The PS3 library is essentially the same as the now-defunct PlayStation Now service.
you might gain access to game streaming on PlayStation and PC for select PS4 games in the Extra/Premium catalog.
Premium considerably adds to the library to make it the most plentiful library on this list.
It’s only $5 per month or $30 for a whole year.
So, yeah, you’re only paying $2.50 per month if you opt for the annual membership.
And then you’re getting a bunch of other games, too.
Xbox users get the largest library, mainly because it includes some Xbox 360 games.
The Origin and Steam libraries are close to the same size.
This is nice for sports games like Madden, FIFA, and NHL.
In some ways, EA Play Pro is basically Game Pass for sports sim fans.
Most of EA’s most popular new releases each year are the aforementioned sports games.
Apple Arcade might be just what you need.
The service launched in 2019 and now has more than 200 games.
The library is excellent and ever-evolving, with a focus on premium new releases from popular studios.
Apple Arcade gets a ton of exclusive games, too.
Oftentimes these are timed exclusives such as the brilliant What the Golf?
and Grindstone, but the list of great Apple Arcade games seems to expand every month.
This is one of those cases where the price is definitely right.
The extensive library of classics feature full versions of past gems with no ads.
Apple Arcade games are playable on iPhone, iPad, and even Apple TV.
These controllers turn your phone into a Nintendo Switch-esque gear.
We’d recommend Apple Arcade to every iOS user.
you’re free to even share your Apple Arcade subscription with five other people via Family Sharing.
That’s less than a buck per month for each person.
Google Play Pass
Google Play Pass launched around the same time as Apple Arcade.
It also costs $5 per month, but an annual subscription is only $30.
The service not only includes games but apps that typically cost money.
Since we’re in the business of game-subscription services here, let’s focus on the games.
There are many hundreds of games on Google Play Pass, though Google doesn’t offer an exact figure.
The base package of Nintendo Switch Online costs $4/monthly, $8/three months, or $20/year.
Like PS Plus and Xbox Live Gold, it unlocks access to online multiplayer.
Switch Online is required for most online multiplayer games, including all of Nintendo’s first-party titles.
Nintendo, as a family-friendly platform, often emphasizes local multiplayer.
This lets you share the benefits of Switch Online across a whopping eight Nintendo Switch consoles.
Yes, it’s an uninspired name, and the service still feels somewhat incomplete due to the price.
The Expansion Pack adds Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis libraries.
These aren’t nearly as robust as the SNES and NES libraries.
The emulation, however, is hit or miss here.
Performance hiccups and visual oddities hurt the overall experience.
If the Expansion Pack stopped there, we probably wouldn’t recommend it.
However, Nintendo has been sweetening the pot with DLC for popular games.
Meanwhile, Happy Home Paradise significantly expands the wonderful New Horizons.
The Expansion Pack will have to continue offering additional bonuses to remain worth it at its current price point.
To be clear, we do not recommend signing up for Amazon Prime purely for Prime Gaming.
It’s absolutely not worth it.
Prime Gaming is just one of the many other perks that is lumped into the membership.
We’re highlighting Prime Gaming here because it’s actually quite great and somewhat overlooked.
Amazon gives away free PC games every month via Prime Gaming.
The number varies, but it’s usually around a half dozen.
And those are just a handful of the free games Amazon has given away just this year.
Amazon recently added an extra perk to Prime Gaming that’s pretty cool.
It’s worth giving it a make a run at see if you like it.
We probably don’t have to say that because absolutely no one would do that.
If you have access to Netflix, though, you should check out Netflix Games.
We gaveInto the Breach a 10/10 in our recent reviewof the mobile version.
kindly play Into the Breach via Netflix Games.
The main benefit is the free games that are given to members each month.
Unlike some other services, you get to keep these games forever after you claim them.
And the lineup is typically pretty great, too.
Humble doesn’t provide a schedule months in advance, so you are getting random titles each month.
But overall, Humble tends to choose highly rated games that are certainly worth giving a go.
Lastly, there’s a rotating batch of games in the Humble Choice Collection.
Plus, you will always have new games to try out each month.
Subscribing to Humble Choice not only helps fill out your PC game library, but it benefits good causes.
Five percent of all Humble Choice revenue goes toward a different charity each month.
And by being a member, you get exclusive discounts on games sold on the Humble Store.
And whenever you buy a game from Humble Bundle, you’ll be helping out great causes.
Nvidia GeForce Now
Graphics card manufacturer Nvidia has been in the cloud streaming service business for years.
In fact, GeForce Now went into beta way back in 2015.
Though other game-streaming services have tried a similar approach (Google Stadia, Shadow, etc.
), Nvidia GeForce Now remains the best option.
It’s important to note that Nvidia GeForce Now is quite different than other services on this list.
The service is supported on PC, Mac, iOS, Android, and Nvidia’s Shield TV.
GeForce Now doesn’t supporteverygame, though–far from it, in fact.
There are three tiers of memberships: Free, Priority, and RTX 3080.
The free tier only lets you play for one hour at a time on a very basic setup.
Priority costs $10/month and gives you 1080p resolution at 60fps on premium servers with RTX-powered graphics.
you could play for six hours at a time.
Regardless of which plan you pick, the session limit isn’t a daily limit.
We’d recommend checking out the free service first, but Nvidia GeForce Now offers great overall performance.
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