Video Game Streaming: What Kind of Games Work Best?
Tags: Entertainment, Videogames, Gaming, Streaming, Technology

Game-streaming platforms such as Google Stadia and PlayStation Now are limited by existing technologies, but certain game genres will put less stress on your streams than others.

By Eric Ravenscraft

This could be the year game streaming finally goes mainstream. Google’s Stadia, Microsoft’s xCloud, and Sony’s PlayStation Now are all making major strides, and when it comes time to choose between the new Xbox or PlayStation 5 later this year, whether or how much you stream games could be a deciding factor.

But even the best streaming platforms have limitations. As fast as Stadia or xCloud might be, there will still be more input lag compared to a controller connected to a console in your home. For fast-paced games like first-person shooters, this might be a problem, but not all games have such high demands.

Think of it like watching movies on Netflix. If you want to watch a special effects extravaganza, like the latest Star Wars movie, you’ll want to get a 4K HDR Blu-ray and play it locally to your TV. But if you want to re-watch episodes of The Office, picture quality and device don’t matter as much.

Here, we’ll examine the gaming equivalent of The Office—the types of titles you should load up on your service of choice for (mostly) smooth streams.

Exploration Games Don’t Push Latency Limits

Stadia launched with one exclusive title, the indie game Gylt. It employs stealth and exploration mechanics to guide players through mazes while avoiding enemies — as opposed to fighting them head on — in a tradition similar to Alan Wake.

This slow-paced approach, where exploration is more important than quick reflexes, is perfect for streaming. Since it doesn’t require fast camera turns or rapid action, any input lag or streaming hiccups are easy to handle.

Issues you do encounter can be likened to a brief glitch while watching a YouTube video. If the quality drops for a moment or a few frames get skipped, you don’t usually give up on streaming video altogether.

Simulation Games Are Better Played Everywhere

Simulation games such as Farming Simulator and Subnautica put more emphasis on managing resources and exploring new areas than on action. They can also be addictive to the point of occupying your every waking thought once you get into them.

So when platforms like Stadia offer to let you play them on everything from your TV to your phone, the benefits of a universal platform outweigh the sacrifices of occasionally dropping a frame here or there.

The relatively slow-paced nature of most simulation games also means they demand less bandwidth than others you might play. Generally, streaming services advertise high bandwidth requirements because they do require a lot of bandwidth, but not every game needs to transmit the same amount of data.

In other words, if you want to pull out a game on your phone for a few minutes, a sim game will probably go easier on your data plan than trying to play Destiny 2.

Less Demanding Action Games Can Work

Playing Borderlands or Destiny might be tough if you’re streaming on anything less than the fastest internet you can find. But that doesn’t mean every action game is off the table.

Darksiders: Genesis and Baldur’s Gate employ similar hack-and-slash mechanics as their predecessors, but they use a locked isometric camera angle, which tends to reduce the graphical load that needs to be sent over the network.

Without getting too technical, the fewer changes in a frame, the less work video-compression algorithms have to do. For first-person shooters, where the camera can point in the complete opposite direction with a flick of the mouse, games have to recalculate and transmit almost everything on screen in quick order. This puts a higher demand on bandwidth and can deteriorate stream quality.

Games that are less graphically demanding, on the other hand, aren’t as strenuous on your available bandwidth. A game such as Darksiders: Genesis allows for fewer and less intensive frame changes, which saves a ton of bandwidth, especially on slower streams.

These types of games might still not be as smooth as more laid back games, but if you want a title that gets your adrenaline pumping, it’s worth paying attention to how the game is presented and what kind of impact that might have on your stream.

Test Games on Subscription Services

Sony’s PlayStation Now subscription includes access to hundreds of new and classic games, and Microsoft has already signaled that it intends to roll xCloud into its Game Pass subscription. In both cases, that means you should be able to try out games included in the subscription without having to buy them separately or download anything.

If there’s a game you were interested in but never knew if it was worth buying, just fire it up on your subscription service and see how it is for no additional cost. In time, this may end up being one of the most useful features streaming services bring to the table.

As games get larger and subscriptions become a more common way to pay, you won’t have to spend precious time and resources downloading titles just to see if you like them. Streaming lets you jump right into a game in a matter of minutes, so even if you plan to buy your own copy or download it locally, consider streaming a game first to try it out.

What Doesn’t Work: Shooters, Fighting Games, and High-End Graphics

It might go without saying, but first-person shooters like Destiny 2 and fighting games like Mortal Kombat 11 will probably put the most stress on your stream. Furthermore, games like Final Fantasy XV with a lot of graphical detail and moderately fast-paced gameplay can stress compression algorithms.

Now, that’s not to say that these games can’t work. If you have optimized your network to get the best streaming quality, and you’re not overly concerned with getting every pixel of detail, you can play these games. You probably won’t get the best experience compared to downloading it to your machine, but if it’s worth the trade-off to be able to play MK11 on your phone, go for it. Just be aware of the limitations of the tech as it exists today.