With the announcement of the closure of Stadia, many users of Google’s Cloud Gaming platform are going to be orphaned. However, Cloud Gaming is not dead and there are alternatives for those who have decided to bet on this new way of playing their favorite video games. The fact is that right now and in Spain we have two options left at the moment, which are GeForce Now and XCloud . Which of them is the best option?
There are many detractors towards cloud gaming and these have increased in recent days. However, we must start from the fact that not everyone has a computer with state-of-the-art hardware for it. That is why Cloud Gaming is a more than worthy and viable alternative for users with few resources. Total, you just have to pay a monthly subscription for as long as you want to play your favorite game or games. So basically it’s ideal if you don’t have the money saved for a video game console or a computer to play.
XCloud versus GeForce Now Which Option is Better for Cloud Gaming?
In reality, both options are so disparate in all aspects, since they are raised in completely different ways, which is why we have decided to divide this comparison into different sections, so that you can choose the gaming platform that best suits your needs. needs.
Game catalog
We start with the most interesting of all and what interests us most, the games. In the case of GeForce Now, its catalog is limited to a series of compatible games for Steam and the Epic Game Store, so the user must own these games to be able to run them remotely on NVIDIA servers. Instead, XCloud is based on Xbox and has a catalog of specific games that are not owned by the user, but which they can play and rotate from time to time.
Hardware
Despite the fact that the execution is carried out remotely, we must take into account that the power of the servers is uneven between both platforms. The reason? XCloud uses a variant of the Xbox Series X consoles as the basis for its servers, while N VIDIA uses computers and therefore have higher power and higher image quality. In any case, we must bear in mind that the image quality will depend on the internet we have and enjoying the 4K service based on the GeForce Now RTX 3080 will not only cost us an extra in the service, but also one more internet Quick.
Infrastructure costs also affect the cost of the service. In the case of NVIDIA, it is based on renting its servers for a few hours a day at a flat rate, so we can only play a few hours a day. Instead, Xbox gives access 24 hours a day and 7 days a week as long as we are paying for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Available platforms
The platforms you can enjoy GeForce Now on are: Windows, macOS, Android, and Nvidia Shield TV . On the other hand, in the case of XCloud we can enjoy it both in the Xbox application for PC, from its own consoles and through the browser on iOS, Android and Chromebook . So, more or less, both platforms are within reach for all users and it can be said that there is a tie.
GeForce Now versus XCloud: final conclusions.
In the comparison between XCloud and GeForce Now for us and for the day-to-day life of the average user, it is the Microsoft platform that wins , more than anything, for its lower price and the fact that it is available 24 hours a day. day and 7 days a week. In terms of performance and if we remove the received image quality, both platforms are very worthy and play well. A third option on PC is PlayStation Now, but unfortunately it is far in quality from Google and Microsoft services. That is, it requires a technical renovation by SONY.
