• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
TechNvidia

Nvidia, Sony, and Others Promise a New Era of Cloud Gaming. Here’s What Their Services Are Like

By
Jonathan Vanian
Jonathan Vanian
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Jonathan Vanian
Jonathan Vanian
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 30, 2018, 7:00 AM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

For years, video game makers have tried to develop ways to stream their shooters and adventure games so that players wouldn’t need powerful computers or the latest console to see realistic looking blood splatter on their screens.

Players could avoid spending big money on new, expensive equipment while game makers would be able to reach more people.

The problem, however, is that the technology for streaming high-end video games has fallen short. Latency, those infuriating delays people sometimes experience when watching Hulu, for example, is a constant problem that could get a player’s character killed in a game like Doom.

Companies have tried to make a business in cloud gaming in the past, but their efforts so far have been futile. For instance, Silicon Valley game streaming startup OnLive, which Sony bought for an undisclosed price in 2015, ended up shuttering as it faced numerous managerial and technological challenges.

However, the rise of cloud computing services offered from companies like Amazon (AMZN) and Google (GOOG) has shown that technology has advanced enough to where businesses like Snapchat’s video messaging services can run entirely on someone else’s data center gear without many problems. Additionally, companies like Netflix (NFLX) have grown large enough to convince others that it may be possible to create a sustainable business model around streaming media services.

For this reason, companies like Nvidia, Sony, and others are once again trying to make “cloud gaming” a reality. Still, as Fortune recently reported, some video game publishers like Take-Two Interactive and Nintendo worry that the technology isn’t good enough to deliver smooth and reliable games.

Fortune tested some of the newest cloud gaming services to see how the technology has improved. Several of these services are still experimenting with pricing, and some of the basic user designs can be confusing compared to more battle-tested video streaming services like Netflix.

Here’s a rundown of some of those gaming services and how they compare when tested briefly using a standard home Internet connection and a barebones Lenovo Thinkpad work laptop with no graphics processing unit, or GPU.

Sony PlayStation Now

Think of Sony’s PlayStation Now streaming service as an online arcade that includes some of the company’s exclusive video game titles that originally debuted on its various PlayStation gaming consoles over the years.

For $19.99 a month (or $100 annually), players can access a library of games, several of which date back to Sony’s PlayStation 2 console, which debuted in 2000. People can play the titles on PlayStation 4 gaming consoles or a personal computer that runs on Windows 10.

Using a Sony Duel Shock controller, the same that’s necessary for Sony’s conventional gaming consoles, is required.

Warning: Players should expect a short delay when they first click to play a certain video game title, as servers prep the game before streaming kicks in. But after that, older games like Mortal Kombat (from 2011) ran smoothly and were responsive to the controller’s actions.

Nvidia GeForce NOW

Nvidia’s GeForce NOW service is currently free to use because the company is still testing the service. When it first announced the service in 2017, the company was considering charging $25 to stream 20 hours of game playtime, which some people felt was too expensive.

Unlike Sony’s streaming service, people must own the video games they want to play. The benefit of using Nvidia’s service, however, is that people can run their existing games using more powerful computers loaded with the company’s GPUs that are hosted in Nvidia’s data centers and stream to people’s Windows or Apple PCs.

Players will need to link their existing Steam, Blizzard, or Ubisoft accounts that contain their purchased video games in order to play those games using Nvidia’s service.

There were some minor hiccups when waiting for certain scenes to load when trying out the first-person shooter Dishonored, but once the actual gameplay commenced, we were able to run around and blast computer opponents without much trouble.

Blade Shadow

The Shadow cloud gaming service by the French startup Blade is currently only available on certain areas of the East and West coasts of the U.S. and in France. The company said it plans to cover all states on both U.S. coasts sometime in fall plus Germany in early September. The service, which accesses computers in the company’s data centers that contain Nvidia’s graphics chips that ensure that the games can be played with the best visuals, costs $34.95 monthly.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Unlike Sony or Nvidia, people can use the cloud gaming service for other tasks besides gaming, like video editing, because they can access an entire PC remotely and install their own software onto it as if they owned the physical machine it. Like Nvidia’s service, people will have to own the games they want to play using the service.

The first-person action adventure game BioShock Infinite ran surprisingly well with the resolution cranked to the highest setting. Still, those visuals would likely look better if our test laptop was able to display high-resolution graphics, like a 4K television would.

Parsec

The Parsec cloud gaming service is similar in some ways to Shadow in that the basic premise is that people are able to rent access to a more powerful computer via the PCs they own. Whereas Shadow has built its own data center infrastructure, however, Parsec operates on Amazon Web Services. Like Shadow, Parsec Nvidia’s GPUs to deliver compelling graphics albeit those GPUs are offered via AWS.

People can configure the type of gaming machine they want to run using the Parsec interface, and the company’s pricing varies based on the computer’s specifications, region, and how many people are using the service at a given time. The company estimates on a support page that for one configuration, the “Total cost of two months of gaming for about 32 hours in the cloud will be $76.78.”

It should be noted that unlike Sony and Nvidia, it’s more difficult getting Shadow and Parsec to run on a laptop, with the process involving a number of steps. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, however, as these are much smaller companies that appear to be still working out the basic user interface of their products.

Update: Aug. 30, 1:50 PM PST

Added additional detail on Blade Shadow’s coverage area.

About the Author
By Jonathan Vanian
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Jonathan Vanian is a former Fortune reporter. He covered business technology, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data privacy, and other topics.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Michael Burry just shorted Caterpillar’s 172% AI rally. One analyst says his bet won’t even matter
Investingstock prices
Michael Burry just shorted Caterpillar’s 172% AI rally. One analyst says his bet won’t even matter
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 2, 2026
4 hours ago
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
EconomyDebt
AI’s $2.2 trillion deficit fix is already half fake, economists say
By Tristan BoveJuly 2, 2026
5 hours ago
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei
AIEye on AI
Anthropic’s Fable model is back. But U.S. AI policy is still a mess
By Jeremy KahnJuly 2, 2026
6 hours ago
ai
North AmericaImmigration
Trump’s $46 billion ‘smart wall’ with Mexico bets on AI and scale
By Rebecca Santana and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
7 hours ago
sk
AISouth Korea
AI “grief videos” turn mourning into a $390 service in South Korea
By Hyung-Jin Kim and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
7 hours ago
Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo looks to the far right during a conference.
CryptoBlockchain
Securitize is latest crypto company to go public as BlackRock-backed firm sees stock jump 3% on debut
By Camila Grigera NaónJuly 2, 2026
7 hours ago

Most Popular

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
Big Tech
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 1, 2026
2 days ago
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
8 days ago
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 1, 2026
1 day ago
Today, Emily Blunt is worth $80 million thanks to her Hollywood career—but she actually wanted to be a UN Spanish translator on $80K
Success
Today, Emily Blunt is worth $80 million thanks to her Hollywood career—but she actually wanted to be a UN Spanish translator on $80K
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJuly 2, 2026
17 hours ago
Trump got a $78K pension from the Screen Actors Guild in 2025 because he appeared in Home Alone 2 in 1992
Politics
Trump got a $78K pension from the Screen Actors Guild in 2025 because he appeared in Home Alone 2 in 1992
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 1, 2026
1 day ago
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
Success
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
By Preston ForeJune 27, 2026
6 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.