Top VPNs for Gaming

By choosing the right VPN, you’ll never have to worry about a laggy internet connection or your account being hacked. 

Whether you’re playing Call of Duty, Fortnite or any other online multiple game, sometimes it doesn’t matter how good your no-scopes are if your internet connection is letting you down. A weak internet connection can mean the difference between winning or losing, but gamers have a lot more to worry about than just losing online games. They’ve got their security to worry about too. 

It’s no secret that cyberattacks have skyrocketed since the emergence of COVID-19 and regular attacks have become a day-to-day struggle for many businesses, game companies included. 

Hundreds of Xbox Live accounts, Nintendo switch accounts and PlayStation Network accounts are hacked every day. It’s not just console owners who are at risk, either. Online criminals are attacking the steam libraries of Mac and PC owners too. These attacks are so common that Steam even has advice for people who have had accounts hijacked or stolen in its FAQs! So what can gamers do to stop this? Thankfully, there’s a solution. 

Connecting your console to a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is one of the most effective ways of protecting your online accounts against hackers while also improving the speed of your internet connection. At the click of a button, you’ll be able to connect to servers anywhere in the world over a private and encrypted network, meaning all of the information you’re transferring is completely hidden. 

But with so many VPNs out there, choosing the best VPN isn’t easy. VPNs work differently with video game consoles and through gaming libraries such as Steam, so it’s important to choose a VPN that’s optimized for gaming if you don’t want it messing with your connection. Some video games are incompatible with VPNs and certain game companies will ban you if they suspect you’re using one. 

VPN Benefits for Gaming

Connecting your console or gaming device to a VPN has lots of benefits, from improving your overall security to reducing connectivity issues.

• Get rid of lag and reduce your ping in online multiplayer games by improving the strength of your connection.
• Protect yourself from DDoS attacks - one of the most common cyber attacks on gamers.
• Save money on your games by using your VPN to access discounts that aren’t available in your own country.
• Download and play games that aren’t available in your own country be connecting to private servers located all over the world.
• Make valuable data such as your banking information safe and secure while gaming.
• As the information you’re transferring  over your VPN network is encrypted, your ISP and online hackers won’t be able to tell where you’re playing from.

How to choose a VPN for Gaming?

There are hundreds of VPNs to choose from and as most of them are cheapest when you purchase a year’s subscription, it’s important to get the choice right before you get roped into an agreement. If you’re a gamer, you should be looking out for VPNs that boast the following features and benefits.

• A wide server network

Some of the best PlayStation network and Nintendo deals for digital content are available in countries such as South Africa and India, so your VPN must have a wide server network, ideally one of the VPNs with the most servers in the world.

• Server speed

Of course, size isn’t everything. The servers that your VPN has to choose from should be decent quality. You can have all the servers in the world but they’re useless if they just slow your connection down. If servers are shared and flooded with too many players, you’ll suffer from games where players glitch across the map as your ping jumps up and down. Where possible, avoid shared servers with other VPNs, prioritize private servers, and always make sure your choice factors in the fastest VPNs in the world.

• Security

With cyber-attacks on gamers taking place every day, online game security should be a key focus when you’re choosing a VPN. Choosing a VPN that boasts a wide range of security features will ensure you never fall foul of DDoS attacks and hackers aren’t able to access valuable information such as your bank cards, home address, and personal information. If you’re a PC gamer, you could even lose your entire Steam library.

Using a VPN encrypts the information you’re transferring. So even if hackers can get in the middle of your connection, the information they’re left with will be useless.

• Compatibility

Make sure you choose a VPN with a solid reputation and a large number of users. Some VPNs won’t work in certain countries and it’s usually the smaller ones that don’t have large enough team to facilitate constant network upgrades. Game companies regularly update their games and services to catch out VPN users. Choosing a smaller VPN that isn’t able to update its own services to counter this could render your VPN useless for gaming.