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Xcloud VS PS Now VS Stadia VS Luna VS GFN

Choose your champion

  • Xcloud

    Votes: 752 59.3%

  • PS NOW

    Votes: 230 18.1%

  • Stadia

    Votes: 243 19.2%

  • Luna

    Votes: 14 1.1%

  • GFN

    Votes: 169 13.3%
  • Total voters
    1,268
  • Poll closed .
Giant Enemy Crab

Giant Enemy Crab

Member
Apr 21, 2018
3,179
Your best experience ?
Library, tech, take into account any factor. What is your overall favorite service ?

Mine are GFN and Stadia. Stadia for the japanese games, convenience and GFN for the EGS and Steam library i can already use. (not all the games of course)


2022 update: Latency is no longer a real problem for millions of gamers. (except for e-sport, competitive games for now.Only GFN3080 is ready for that)
 
Last edited:
SuikerBrood

SuikerBrood

Member
Jan 21, 2018
15,487
Best experience based on what? Regarding ease of use, library and additional value it's xCloud. As a technology it's Stadia.
 
Windu

Windu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,622
I've used xCloud, Stadia and PS Now.

Stadia is fantastic. xCloud is good enough. PS Now is shit.

Edit: this is in terms of streaming tech.
 
SixtyTwoMike

SixtyTwoMike

Member
Oct 26, 2017
682
Stadia is the best quality streaming I've used.
XCloud is the best package.
PSNow needs a lot of work.
 
NewDust

NewDust

Visited by Knack
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,586
Xcloud beta felt very heavy. PSNow has a shit PC app (console app is better but then you only need streaming for PS3 titles) and the last time I used it, it was still 720p but latency was noticeable but playable.

Library wise you can't compete with Xcloud. PSNow is fine for the money, but new additions can be very hit or miss.
 
Toumari

Toumari

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,303
England
Tech wise? Stadia without question. It has the worst business model though.

That said I haven't tried Luna.
 
Reinhardt Schneider

Reinhardt Schneider

Banned
Jun 2, 2019
4,947
The only one of those services i haven't tried is Luna.

  • PSN is outright bad, at least on PC
  • GeForce Now is the best concept: Play the games you own wherever you want, and it doesn't work half bad, but the price feels a little steep for just that.
  • Stadia is perfect, but the fact that it acts as its own gaming platform forcing you to pay full price for cloud games makes the the worst choice
  • xCloud offers the best package for me: Good enough streaming quality (both image and input lag) and an extensive library with cloud saves that works on all platforms.
 
BUNTING1243

BUNTING1243

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,708
XCloud is the best library. Stadia has the best experience and user library. GeForce Now has the most customization and is generally the best looking.
 

Deleted member 51848

Jan 10, 2019
1,408
I've used xcloud and geforce now. Geforce now had the best streaming quality but THE MOST FRUSTRATING user experience. It's integration with third party stores works well on PC but poorly on mobile devices or basically anywhere that isn't a PC. The ecosystem is fractured and that leads to frustration at nearly every touch point. The moment I discovered that publishers could remove their games from the service at any time was the moment I realised my idea about PC gaming without the PC was dead. It's a shame because that's the service I'd like to receive and Geforce now dangles that infront of you. I mean - I own pc games in various storefronts that are sometimes supported over cloud and sometimes not. That makes no sense to me. Xcloud has the worst streaming quality but the user experience is absolutely excellent. If a game is available to me I can stream it wherever I can get an internet connection from nearly any device I own. When I get to another device I can pick it back up from where I left off. The friction between starting a session and playing a game is reduced to basically zero. Yes - like Geforce now games can leave and arrive in the service but it is made fundamentally clear to me THAT I DO NOT OWN THEM. And that's fine.

edit - I actually saw a scotthewoz video the other day that echoed my sentiments towards Geforce Now from a UX point of view. Ugh.
 

Massa

Member
Oct 27, 2017
462
I'm temporarily on a 15Mb/s fiber connection at an AirBnb, and Xcloud was unplayable on a MacBook, PS Now worked perfectly to play Fallout New Vegas on a PS5.

I can't to move into a permanent place with a top speed connection... Xcloud will be my only access to Xbox for a few months. I read here the web/MacBook version isn't as good, I hope they fix that.
 
Bill Gaitas

Bill Gaitas

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,655
Having tried all of those except Luna, Stadia gave me the best experience. It's the only service where I could actually see myself playing on a regular basis. Xcloud. GeForce Now is second to me, did some Destiny there and it worked fine, PS Now it was a while since I tested it so I can't really comment on it but Xcloud has what it takes to be my favourite service but the input latency, even on the Seriex X blades is too high, I just can't play it.
 
logan_cadfgs

logan_cadfgs

Member
Oct 28, 2017
945
I've tried PS Now, xCloud and Stadia this year, and Stadia's latency is pretty dang good, probably the best I've experienced so far. From a value standpoint, xCloud is pretty exciting.

PS Now is weird because a lot of their PS4 catalog overlaps with their "you bought a PS5, here's some PS4 games for free" collection. Also, a lot of the appeal of PS Now hinges on the PS4/5's inability to play PS2/PS3 games natively, which I don't like.

Also, the ability to use xCloud and Stadia from just the Safari browser is kinda nuts.

Bonus points to whoever gets a tvOS app first. Really don't wanna have to buy a Shied TV just for that 😩
 
Bardeh

Bardeh

Member
Jun 15, 2018
2,700
Xcloud is amazing value, but I feel like the quality and input latency is just not quite there compared to some others I've tried. That said, I played a good few hours of Yakuza LAD over it the other day on my PC and it was completely serviceable and playable.
 

pbatty89

Banned
Mar 11, 2020
101
ps now and stadia have worked perfectly for me. i have game pass ultimate and have tried to play xcloud a few times and its unplayable. not sure what the issue is
 
DvdGzz

DvdGzz

Banned
Mar 21, 2018
3,580
Xcloud should be the best for me as a Game Pass subscriber but it's the worst I've tried. Never tried PSNow but the other three are awesome latency wise. GE force Now is 1st overall for now. I hope MS figures out the latency issue...
 
InfinityDOK

InfinityDOK

Member
Dec 3, 2018
2,590
The recent update for xcloud fixed the issues I had before, stadia still has a bit of an edge tech-wise (less artifacting).
 
ghostcrew

ghostcrew

The Shrouded Ghost
Administrator
Oct 27, 2017
30,351
Tech wise it's Stadia. Easy choice. (Up to) 4k and really pretty flawless performance. Very happy with that they've done techwise, despite all the other shortcomings.

Streaming library it's probably Xcloud. Just having access to a library with my current sub that keeps getting new things added to it it great. There are constantly new cloud enabled games added every other week.

Shout out to Geforce Now connecting to your Steam/Epic/etc libraries though and just letting you stream games you already own. That's powerful.

PS Now performs great and is good on console. The library is vast but kinda meh in terms of new additions though. It's very legacy heavy. And anyone who's used it on PC will be able to tell you about the shortcomings there. It has 800 games and no search function in the PC app. You have to just scroll A-Z....
 
Fatoy

Fatoy

Member
Mar 13, 2019
7,220
SuikerBrood said:
Best experience based on what? Regarding ease of use, library and additional value it's xCloud. As a technology it's Stadia.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
This is the only sensible answer. XCloud is really frustrating: it has everything I want in a cloud gaming ecosystem, except good streaming performance. Stadia has the opposite.

Also Shadow is technically extremely impressive, but it's not a cloud gaming service in its own right - just a cloud PC rental.
 
elenarie

elenarie

Game Developer
Verified
Jun 10, 2018
9,799
xCloud has worked perfectly for me. Played a bunch of Outriders on my PC.
 
Prine

Prine

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,724
XCloud is the most comprehensive and best integrated experience there is. Some games may not work great, but most do in my experience (Spirit Fare, Gears 5, Outriders, Sea of Thieves). Still needs some work but there's nothing out there that makes gaming on the fly so easy, and syncs back up with local play.
 
EXXo

EXXo

Member
Nov 12, 2019
263
Manchester
Tried Stadia again last night after playing it at launch, its ALOT better and could only just tell the difference in the movement delay.

xCloud still need improvement and still have big delay on it.
 
bushmonkey

bushmonkey

Member
Oct 29, 2017
5,599
I like PSNow for the PS3 games library and XCloud for the ease of use and the large gamepass library.
 
Shift Breaker

Shift Breaker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,487
I've only played PS Now. Its user interface is awful on PC, it doesn't even work with the Dualsense (The fact that switching from Remote Play to PS Now involves changing controllers is just baffling) and its main appeal is its PS3 library which means less to me as I still have a PS3 hooked up.

Gameplay seemed fine, though. Had no trouble playing Daytona USA. It's just lacking in other areas.
 
Nzyme32

Nzyme32

Member
Oct 28, 2017
5,245
Most thorough testing of seen for all of these.



Personally from my own testing, I was surprised by how good GFN is, particularly with velocity based input, which after several hours of testing had very minor latency felt as mouse acceleration- far far better than I would have expected. Only Stadia offers such support also iirc, but I haven't tested it. PSNow was an awful experience last I tried it a little less than 2 years back
 
fourfourfun

fourfourfun

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,680
England
I've only had hands on with two. Stadia was better quality tech and experience than GeForceNow.

Right now, only Stadia offers a decent solution to use on a TV, and I'll discount Luna from this until they get out of Beta.

I'd want to see xCloud offer a wifi controller. And does it have an app via Amazon or anything like that? Until you can conveniently play on a TV with the minimum of hardware, the point is being missed for me.

PSNow simply doesn't have the capacity to challenge the cloud giants.

I feel like I'd like to see Luna & Stadia do well as the seem best positioned to have the best tech - streaming and controller. Plus you can pick your model either way: I want subscription games vs. I want bought games + freebies.
 
Alucardx23

Alucardx23

Member
Nov 8, 2017
4,711
Stadia is the gold standard for image quality and latency. Xcloud with Gamepass offers the best library of games for the money. The problem with Xcloud is that it doesn't allow you to buy individual games. I have Cyberpunk on Stadia, but it is not available through Xcloud.
 
Drunkensamurai

Drunkensamurai

Banned
May 12, 2020
1,587
1. Stadia - Worked really well on a Chromebook, Minor issues with latency and good image quality.
2. PSNow - Played MGS4 from start to finish without any issues but image quality wasn't the best.
3. Xcloud - Terrible latency along with imagining quality and audio issues.
 
the7egend

the7egend

Member
Mar 6, 2018
356
Stadia is the best as far as streaming quality and latency are concerned.
xCloud has the best monetization model.
 
Anddo

Anddo

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,854
1. Stadia - Works great. Google has the infrastructure. Best cloud service I've used.
2. PSNow - Works great on PS4/5... It's functional on PC but lacks basic navigation; very barebones. But the library is there.
3. Luna- Get's ignored because it's Amazon. But is very good overall.

Haven't tried Xcloud because it's tied to GPU
 
Pellaidh

Pellaidh

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,168
Geforce Now is the only one actually available in my region, so I'll give them props for actually trying to expand the service internationally. It's still very lacking in terms of supported regions, but at least they're better than the competition.

Their free tier is also nice enough to mess around with, and the latency worked okay when I tried it. Not good enough for fast paced games, but playable for slower paced ones.
 

Deleted member 44122

Guest
would easily be geforce now if it worked like it did in beta, where all games worked, without exception. right now its xcloud though
 

brain_stew

Member
Oct 30, 2017
4,727
Stadia has the best technology but Xcloud has the best business model and content library.

I don't expect Stadia to ever fix their business model and content problem but there's little reason to believe that Microsoft won't get their technology up to an acceptable level.

I wouldn't recommend any service currently (apart from perhaps GFN) but expect Xcloud to become the market leader very quickly.
 
Big Boy

Big Boy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,894
PS Now worked great for me on PS4. Never tried it on PC.
Xcloud had some severe latency and picture quality issues but it's still early days so I would assume that it will improve over time.
Stadia is a level above in terms of latency and picture quality. Easily the best tech of what I have tried.

Library wise, PS Now at the time I subscribed was great for me personally, but lacked the big hitters that most people would probably want. I believe that is still the case although has improved a bit.
Xcloud obviously has a strong catalogue. No doubt about that.
Stadia was disappointing.

Not tried Luna or GFN
 

Patrese86

Member
Jun 6, 2021
883
I've only used xcloud, PS Now and GFN. I voted GFN as it's a good balance between the othe two. Little latency and good picture quality. PS Now has very little lag for me but poorer picture quality and xcloud has the best resolution but is unplayable due to lag.

I like that I can play the games I own on GFN.
 
fourfourfun

fourfourfun

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,680
England
Stadia's business model - from what I'm gathering, it is like PSN+(ish)?

Some free no sub games
Buy games
Subscribers get benefits and regular free games

That... isn't the worst, has to be said.
 
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