The Best Gaming Subscription Services to Get You Through Lockdown
Most of us are stuck in for long periods right now, but if you’re a gamer, life doesn’t have to be boring! Check out these gaming subscription services to help you beat lockdown and quarantine.
1. Xbox Ultimate
The best deal, in my opinion, is the Xbox Ultimate Game Pass. You can sign up for $1 for your first month. After that it’s $14.99 a month, but it’s well worth it, especially if you’re stuck at home with nothing to do. What could be better than a gaming subscription?
Xbox Ultimate gives you access to everything in the game library, up to four free games a month (the Xbox Gold games), and multiplayer functionality. You also get a bunch of other perks, such as this month’s free gear for Sea of Thieves (an Ori design to use on your ships), and discounts on everything in the Microsoft store. Plus, you get access to every Xbox Game Studio game the day it releases.
Xbox games can be played on a PC, and you can use the subscription there as well.
2. Playstation Now and Playstation Plus
Playstation Now is Playstation’s official streaming library. You get access to over 800 games and the ability to play them on your Playstation or PC. New games are added all the time, and there are some excellent choices. The service offers a 7-day free trial, and will then cost you $9.99 a month. A lot of the games are only available until a given date, so be aware of that when you start playing something.
Playstation Plus offers a 14-day free trial and costs you $9.99 a month as well. There are options to pay for 3 months or a year at a time as well. For your subscription fees, you get two free games a month — this month’s are Sonic Forces and Shadow of the Colossus. These are yours for as long as you have a subscription. You also get discounts in the Playstation Store and occasional perks like a new Fortnite skin. Playstation Plus comes with extra cloud storage, multiplayer functionality, and Share Play (a way of playing games with your friends even if they don’t own the game).
3. Nintendo Switch Online
Essential for multiplayer functionality, Nintendo Switch Online is the best option if you’re low on cash. You can get a yearly family subscription for only $34.99 that will support eight Nintendo accounts. If you split that with 7 friends, that’s only $4.37 a year. If you’re buying a personal subscription, you can purchase monthly, 3-monthly, or yearly at $3.99, $7.99, or $19.99, respectively.
With Nintendo Switch Online, you get multiplayer functionality and access to the library of NES and SNES games. There are currently more than 60 games, but they seem to add more regularly. You can also back-up your save files to the cloud, and get discounts and offers in the store. There is also a smartphone app, giving you access to voice chat while gaming. Great for life under lockdown!
4. Humble Choice (formerly Humble Monthly)
One for the PC gamers among us! Humble Choice is a subscription service providing 10 or more free PC games a month (you can only have 9, though). These range from big-name games to quirky little indie games. You often get a game Humble’s own developers have created. There are some real little gems in the Humble Choice packages. You also get access to the Trove, which is a library of 90+ games, and a 20% discount on a large part of the store.
Humble Choice almost always gives you the Steam key for their monthly games, which you can choose to keep or gift to a friend. You only get one key per game though, so don’t give away something you want! With the indie or Humble games, they tend to be direct downloads to your computer.
Humble Choice is pricey at $21.59 a month ($194.39 a year — with 3 months free), but 5% of your fee goes to a nominated charity each month. So why not use this gaming subscription?
5. Google Stadia
Google Stadia is the new streaming service that turns your TV or PC into a console. For PC users, it’s relatively cheap — $9.99 a month. But if you’re using your TV, it’ll cost you $129 for the Chromecast Ultra and a controller, as well as the membership fees. There are some smartphones with compatibility, and if you can use BlueTooth to pair an Xbox or PS4 controller to your phone, all the better, otherwise you’ll have to buy one. Games-wise, there are a lot of big names, and more than 30 titles currently in the library and 120 titles in the works.
There’s definitely something for everyone here. I hope you’re staying safe and that you can sign yourself up for an awesome gaming subscription to pass the time.