Game streaming and subscriptions

Why buy games when you can subscribe to entire libraries? Hope Corrigan rounds up the best deals and services for hassle-free gaming you can afford.

While there are plenty of video streaming services available in Australia, when it comes to games we aren’t so lucky. In other countries, you can try things like PlayStation Now, Nvidia Geforce now, and the newly launched Google Stadia for your streaming needs. The idea behind these products is a lot like current video streaming: you pay a subscription fee and get access to all the games available on the platform.

However unlike video streaming, there can be an added benefit to streaming games. Some services like Stadia allow people to game on underpowered PCs and other devices through things like a basic Chrome browser. The games are run on

Google’s own powerful servers so all your device needs to do is register inputs and show the results, rather than the main computing. This requires a pretty decent connection but also means customers don’t have to pay a large upfront cost to have a console or gaming PC powerful enough to run the latest games. It’s also good for people on the go who don’t always have access to their home equipment.

Unfortunately, streaming games is still a fairly new concept and that, combined with our archaic internet, means Aussies tend to get the rough end of the stick. None of the pure streaming options are currently available in our region but, thankfully, we’re not left completely in the dust. There are services which aren’t technically streaming but do allow you to pay a subscription to access a library of games. You’ll then need to download them and run them on your own compatible machines and, like regular streaming, you won’t really own the games. Instead, you’ll need to maintain or resubscribe to keep accessing the titles but some of the deals are pretty excellent and absolutely worth a look.