Physical media is still popular, but due to the pandemic, even players who would prefer to own a disk have had limited options while stores have had to close their doors. Although digital-only consoles may still be a couple of generations away, digital sales continue to rise year on year. This has also seen a rise in the prominence of subscription gaming services.

Xbox Gamepass, Ubisoft+, EA Play, Amazon Luna and PlayStation Now are now making it easier than ever to get your hands on a large number of games for a low entry cost. There are more subscription-based services than this available, but these are the big boys. They all have benefits and failings, I can say as I have tried most (bar Luna).

Growing up payday would normally consist of two things for me, a wild night out and a choice of what new game to buy. Nowadays, these services mean I don’t need to do that. I’ve been subscribed to Gamepass since it started in 2017, with around 300 games on my Xbox and over 100 on my PC. So  I know I’ve had my money’s worth. Let’s have a look at what they all offer.

PlayStation Now

PlayStation Now is better than most people give it credit for, with a large section of games across both current and previous generations, at current count around 800 titles.

Being that I was late to the PlayStation 4 party, Now gave me a chance to try many games that I had missed out on. The big downside here?…

Some games can only be streamed and not all first-party titles are included, ones that are, normally have a limited window.

Even with a console connected by ethernet cable and better than most internet, I still found that games would drop out or look pixelated.

PlayStation should do better and although the PlayStation Plus Collection is a start, this should have been made available to PS4 players as well.