I just never thought Sony would beat Microsoft when it comes to streaming considering how much of a powerhouse Microsoft is in the cloud computing market.
After all the bragging about Xcloud that Xbox has done, you would think they would beat their competitor who is not even serious about cloud gaming, in cloud gaming😂
@@yomamasohot6411 it really should be a clean sweep. Idk what’s going on with Microsoft to where they let Sony beat them at their own game lol, especially being the pioneers of cloud gaming like you said
@@yomamasohot6411 They did beat Sony in latency tho? The only place where they're worse is picture quality, but mostly because xCloud designed for a slightly different use case. Unlike Sony's Cloud that can be only played on PS5 hardware at the moment, xCloud was designed to be accessible from all other devices and phones in the first place, hence lower resolution since they expect people to play on smaller screens and not TVs, although would be nice if they started to expand this having quality mode for streaming
The number of YEARS Microsoft has used “it’s a beta” as an excuse for poor performance is a joke. I still remember on stage them touting how it’s a game changers and all the games coming to xcloud. Most games are unplayable unless you insist on cloud gaming or don’t have another option.
This generation is beta, now they have new processor for cloud blades or they gonna improve this from next gen hardware also GP is on geforce now if you want best quality.
The games are perfectly playable. I played through Halo Infinite and Starfield (for as long as I could tolerate it) on my laptop through xCloud. I don't consider it a replacement for my Series X, but another option to play certain games.
@@butchdeadlift7551 I tried it and it was abysmal for me with 600Mbps connection. The server is just too far and it gets really, really laggy. Plus image quality is terrible anyway.
@@Hazemann Try to actually use PS5 streaming, then you found out it only works on a PS5, why should you stream instead of download it and play locally? Xcloud on the other hand is a real cloud gaming service with large amount of users using it on Android, PC, ios, Samsung TV's and more.
IMO the PS5 cloud streaming has been the biggest benefit of the top tier PS+ service. I have so many games in my library that I’ve had to delete from my SSD due to storage space that it’s great to be able to dip back in via streaming and save that 100gigs of space. I’d say it works with the majority of my purchased titles. Maybe 65-75%? It’s such a massive improvement to the old PSNow streaming that for *most* games I have found video quality to be nearly indistinguishable from a local install (when playing in real time and not 2x zoom). Latency is case by case as some games feel almost perfect but others do feel a bit laggy.
Yet it’s locked into Sony’s hardware …. Completely useless if you want to go to a friends house to game if you have to lug around a console where as with xcloud, no console is needed. You can just stream directly onto a smart TV or a cheap laptop. Sony needs to change this if they want to attract people outside of their ecosystem
@@christophervanzetta in your hypothetical scenario you're expecting other people to _also_ have fast internet, large data plans, good ping and high end routers to actually stream games at all which most people don't in the world yet... hence why most of the world still plays games natively. Even if their internet was good enough, its probably not realistically good enough to support that plus others in the household streaming TH-cam/Netflix etc at the same time. Game streaming has been such a niche market for ages and still is now, i don't see it becoming mainstream for ages... if ever honestly and i think its crazy Xbox is putting all their focus into it.
@@christophervanzetta I may not have a library of 100's of games available to me while at a friend's but I can play any game that's installed on my console via remote play on my mobile. And I can install any game I want to play remotely anyway using the PS app. We've had remote play since 2006 in varying iterations, that's almost 2 decades ago lol, I don't see why playstation needs to change when it's Xbox that's been playing catch up this whole time. But enjoy your green kool aid
As an Xbox fan, xCloud is absolutely baffling. Queue times (and long ones), no manual streaming resolution/framerate settings, stuck at 1080p. When I had my One X, I was kinda happy that I had the ability to play Series S/X games via xCloud… but that quickly changed because of the very poor streaming quality.
I never had any queue on xcloud. Didn't even know that exist 😂 But I have to admit quality is a huuuuuge problem. I used to play phantom pain on my PC, when my wife is looking something on TV, and what a disappointment.... I thought it was my fault because I didn't go for change any parameters etc... But it's just disgusting on my screen (2k resolution)
why would you stream if you have a 4k display? just download the game at that point. the streaming solution microsoft came up with was clearly meant for other use cases, such as gaming on mobile devices or on smart TVs without a console
@@TyrannicToe56 If I want to try a game but don't want to download, because drive space is a premium. I have 200Mbps, but it still takes a while for some of these games to download, and I may not have the available space.
@@TyrannicToe56Yes it was and it works wonderfully for me in those scenarios. Not sure what went wrong here in this video as I don’t have any of these issues, but i’m also in America and pretty close to one of their servers
Edit: I missed the Microsoft viewpoint of the comment, my comment is null to you, but I'm leaving it to back up your point. It seems so weird to me that you're asking to pay extra for their service to work competitively... that's the opposite of capatlism and you're a companies dream consumer. Reminds me of when Xbox 360 was charging for online and ps3 wasn't. Was I aware Xbox was better at it and reliable, without question. Did it matter to me vs the free option? No and I still use my ps3 regularly to this day.
yea. I have gotten multiple answers from people who said, that sonys picture quality is so bad, that you can not even compare it with xcloud. Its safe to say, that these people were talking about playstation now and never tried or even researched for playstation plus premium streaming....
I suppose the strategy entails delaying the upgrade of their cloud infrastructure until they've completed acquiring more publishers. Government regulators such as the CMA and FTC are closely monitoring the situation.🤷♂
Thanks for taking the time to do this video, Tom! I often use the PS5 cloud streaming to save storage space on my console. My kids can also play lots of the games right away on there without downloading. It’s not a bad option
Going forward, it'd be awesome to see latency testing become a regular feature in all technical reviews for games that y'all do. It's a really important stat to consider and speaks to how a game "feels" rather than looks which cannot otherwise be conveyed. Many gamers specifically are looking for responsiveness in their games, especially online and co-op games.
I suppose before PSNow ended and was folded into Plus streaming, Sony had many years (since buying Gaikai in 2015) to noodle around with game streaming encode/decode optimisations and strategic data center selection. Then they opted for beefy server hardware instancing to support PS5 streaming, which helps on the video side.
the big problem i see is that 90% of people still think, that sony offers the bad quality psnow had.... In a discussion about cloud gaming service a horde of people were telling me, that sony streaming is so bad, you couldnt even compare it with the quality of xcloud. Its the absolute opposite situation, but people just dont know, and are to ignorant to do some research....
> Be the second biggest Cloud Provider > Plan ahead so the entire generation is setup to be streamed > Push it with marketing > Still loose in spectacular fashion to your competitor who doesn't even take could streaming serious.
@@floppa9415only in picture quality tho, and because they're using different approach. They would probably won in both if they used Series X hardware level, but I guess they think that people that stream to phones or web browsers won't need 4K, while PS streaming only works on consoles that are most likely to be connected to a big 4K TV where this more important.
@@TakisEnjoyer Most phone displays are well above 1080p resolution. Basically, all Samsung phones have a 1440+ resolution display now, and since 2017 or so many flagship Sony Xperia phones literally have 4K displays. Many mobile displays today support 120hz and HDR10+. Decent 1440p60 streaming is the minimum MS should've targeted and PS over delivered with 4K60 plus HDR! Not bad considering GeForce Now costs more per month, plus you need to link your existing account libraries or pay for games on an individual basis. I mean GeForce Now provides the best image quality and lower latency, but it also costs more and isn't part of a wider service with other benefits where PS+ Cloud Streaming and xCloud both are part of another service.
I have been using Sony's streaming on and off since it was a part of PS Now and I very rarely have had issues if I am just streaming a game. In comparison when I have played games on my Xbox or even on a PC I will get times where the picture breaks up momentarily while playing. That alone puts me off of using it. Even the PlayStation streaming on PC is similar quality to console so it's definitely not dependent on hardware.
Sounds like you've not used NVIDIA's streaming service - GeForce Now. Ultimate tier is indistinguishable from a native install. 4k 120fps running on a cloud based 4080 PC.
@@acurisur in terms of performance there is no comparison to nvidia. Still the user xperience is lacking a lot. The permanent login screens if you play any "NOT STEAM"-Game. You can start a xbox games, end it start it again and you again need to insert your password, its horrible. Also that they don't allow you to safe your settings on priority tier leads to horrible problems in some games. For example some Games safe their button mappings into the same ini file like the grafical settings. Due to this situation after every restart of the game you would have to change your button mappings again. It happenes so often that after a patch occured games are down for 4-7 days until the game is playable again, the browser and mobile apps don't offer 4k streaming and more than 60 fps even when you pay for ultimate. I wish xcloud was more like google stadia tech wise.... Just press a button on your controller and you are ingame already...
Thomas, I feel like you should have mentioned that Playstation plus cloud streaming PS5 games is only available on an actual PS5, where as xCloud is available in windows and android and smart TVs and iOS. This is a critical difference as you don't need to own an Xbox to play their games. £13 a month subscription is enough, where as you actually need to buy a PS5.
PS Plus streaming is available on PS4 and PC also with no PS5 required. PS Now had phone, TV, PC, PS4 and Vita years before Xcloud was a thing but it wasn't as popular back then and they dropped it to consoles only for a while. The current PS Plus streaming is supposedly coming to other devices soon but no dates were given. This was told by a high up sony rep during an interview a few months back.
Cloud gaming is how I first managed to play TLOU 1 back in the day. I had a vita but no home system and played the whole thing on Sony's streaming service on my dad's terrible wifi. Dropped frames, crashes, and lots of lag was a consistent part of the experience, but I still fell in love with that game and I've played it many times since. I think these technologies are really cool for those who can't access the games otherwise and hope they keep getting better. Surprised Microsoft seems to have lost to Sony in this one though. Thanks for covering this!
But Sony only allows 4K/PS5 game streaming to PS5 consoles, so Sony doesn't handle your use case. It is basically pointless service at the moment. Xcloud has technical drawbacks but it is an actual game streaming service that let you play console games without a console.
@@thomasjohansson4763 You can play them on a potato PC too but yea, Sony’s behind on device support while MS’s behind on streaming quality. Both are behind on ecosystem accessibility, you should be able to buy/stream any game from any device you’re accessing the service from.
@thomasjohansson4763 what you said. Im pretty sure theres more gamepass users than there is PS+ premium uses on the cloud. You dont need an xbox to stream the games. When im bored and not home ill stream some games on my phone. On a small device you barely even notice the visual drawbacks
@@stephenpawking haha sadly I tried to use it to stream microsoft flight sim the other day and it was borderline unplayable. That said my WiFI isn't great but it was comparable to playing TLOU1 via streaming on the PS Vita almost 10 years ago. I'm sure with really solid WiFi the experience is perfectly playable and enjoyable and I think it's a good option when it does work.
Microsoft is always talking about cloud this, cloud that. Sony never made the whole cloud thing that big of a selling point and yet, as we can see, they're doing it miles better. It's time to step your game up Microsoft. This is Game Pass Ultimate, let's be true to the name!
“Lag Face Off” is the perfect way to describe a a game streaming comparison 😂 I know the future someday is inevitable, but god I hope we can hang onto hardware as long as humanly possible
Yea considering it’s these two. GFN Ultimate is basically imperceptible. Even John (and he hates the idea of it) said he could barely tell he wasn’t playing locally on a 4080 card. And he actually does this for a living LOL.
it mostly has a place for people who travel a lot, Ive noticed. So it's convenient in that aspect, cuz it's not killing the battery as if it were running the game itself
The quality of the average internet connection makes me think it's going to be a long wait. I'm still not convinced it's the future for that reason alone tbh.
I played Cyberpunk on Stadia w/ the chromecast and Stadia Controller. That was 2 years ago and it was amazing. I had no issues and put 120 hours into it. They had it solved. The key was having the Controller independently connected to the server via wifi. The Stadia service was incredible. It's a shame it never took off.
I still doubt that actually helped much at all. Gamers Nexus even showed Stadia didn't actually have better latency with the wifi based controller, their most responsive input method was actually using the browser with a mouse and keyboard. I mean it makes sense as now the service sends both signals over the same packets rather than two devices going over the servers and ISPs. The truth is if you thought Stadia was responsive, you'd like any other streaming service. Stadia wasn't even remotely better than the alternatives. The average latency was still in the same 150ms like PS Subscription and Xcloud is now. Again some people just don't notice latency like others.
@Skylancer727 sadly that's just how it is, for some they just don't notice the latency, and I guess that's a blessing in disguise My biggest issue is the 50% addition to latency, which ruins any cloud streaming service for me. I'd be happy to use it, when they manage to get it down to 20% or so. Blurring/macroblocking the image I can stomach, after all modern TAA does a good job of applying Vaseline and ive accepted that, but a laggier game just doesn't cut it for me. Parsec was good, not quite there yet (I know it's local streaming vs cloud)
I tried xcloud too. FPS games were practically unplayable. The latency with button presses was short, but noticeable and it ruins the experience. I played both. The Stadia experience was exponentially better. Same internet.
The service that's taken over where Stadia left off is GeForce Now from NVIDIA. Up to 4k streaming at 120fps with minimal latency (I can't tell the difference between a native install and streaming).
By investing more resources per instance. Really all it comes down to. Microsoft went for quantity over quality, while Playstation is prioritizing quality. Microsoft can absolutely change this prioritization fairly easily, but it'll have to make financial sense for them to do so.
@@maynardburger “more resources per instance” imo no, the biggest difference is that the ps cloud steaming service has a lot less users, Microsoft has millions way too many people using it to play Fortnite and other games which costs money, they seem to be prioritised with cutting wait times for games like Fortnite. If PlayStation cloud service pulled the same numbers as xcloud, the quality would be degraded massively to accommodate more users, or it would be even more expensive.
I was shocked. From the marketing I thought xcloud would be way better. Especially after Microsoft used to have their own streaming service, mixer. And also all the video streaming thats involved in Microsoft teams. But I guess playstation buying gaikai 12 years ago actually did pay off.
I wouldn't say it's "their own game", Sony has been investing on Gaming Stream since 2013 when they acquired the Gaikai Company and created the PlayStation Now, while Microsoft did start only in 2021.
Thank you for the video! It would be great to also see Moonlight/Sunshine local streaming analysis, as it’s one of the best (wired) streaming solutions at the moment. Love your videos ❤
I second this and will keep bringing it up until it happens. We need Moonlight vs console streaming (local and cloud), And Moonlight on a handheld gaming device vs native steam deck
@@MrWizardGG yeah, Moonlight is absolute gold! I’ve just installed it directly (!) on my LG TV and now I don’t even have to place my PC next to my TV, all that’s needed is Ethernet cable. Crazy (good) stuff! 😍
I've just installed Moonlight directly onto my LG TV and it's working great. Keyboard/controller passthough (though TV) also works. Feels almost like magic 😍
@@MrWizardGG i wish i could use moonlight with my amd graficscard. I know that sunshine exists but sadly with multiple installation attemps I never got it to work. When I start the stream I see only a black picture with only my mouse beeing visible....
Latency is better on Xcloud because of lower bitrate, resolution and frames plus he tested only one game and it relies on online servers/hosts so latency changes every match. The latency test in this video is honestly ridiculous for the Digital Foundry standards
Both latency and video quality are better in playstation. It would be one thing if Microsofts xcloud looked worse but played better, I would actually prefer that, but it's just not the case.
@@DaRkLoRd-rc5yu PS+ Cloud Streaming has higher bitrate and resolution compared to xCloud, but xCloud has better latency. Tom seems to prefer the better image quality rather than the snappier controls. If you look at the side-by-side comparisons, it becomes clear why.
price is great as far as xcloud goes what do u mean, u pay for gamepass ultimate 16 bucks and can play a ton of games like say this months added games u have persona 3, tales of arise, dead island 2, resident evil 2 remake, etc list goes on including all of xbox exclusives...heck if you collect Microsoft rewards points daily u can get it free, i did, accumulated a whole year for free and played everything on my phone with kishi controller...ps plus isn't bad either if u missed most games, just wish similar to xbox they would release it in app form on phones or at least on the ps portal like they had psnow on the vita at one point...geforce now is amazing visually it's the crispest and u can run graphics and all the rt features max especially if u are playing on a phone the fact u will just need 720p or 1080p helps, the high fps u get plus dlss frame gen and reflex minimizes latency so much it feels like native heck u get more latency natively on console and say switch in comparison...only thing sucks with geforce u gotta own each game, although with how many epic store gave out for free and now that gamepass is a part of it too, so if u been collecting, it also is decent for a small monthly fee...besides if u get a year with these services u can save even more, literally u get 100s of games for the price of one essentially🤷♂️ btw i have standard 300mb spectrum internet here in the US, works great, so yeah streaming is actually pretty 🔥 if u use it like a handheld though and not TV, easily crushes downgraded looking ports on switch or steam deck running 30fps low settings, the small screen helps make it like clean again especially gforce is crisp like a sticker indistinguishable from native play
What are you smooooking? You get 700 plus games You get ubisof games that includes every assassin's creed, and every far cry, also watch dogs, and more. You get free movies, with Bravia core, psvr2 games, you get ps collection including 30 of its most beloved fist party titles, and 4 new games get added every month! Plus 4k streaming, as I said lay off that pipe my guy.
@@AlejandroOni hey now, I smoke weed constantly and I have absolutely no problem discerning reality 😂 I'd say this guy's problem is that he believes in God
I’m using plus premium cause I have a kid and she can stream the older games and games she wants which is usually kid friendly games. It’s pretty easy for her and makes it worth it. She doesn’t notice it but I do. But it’s really do able. And when the cousins come over the streaming services really makes it worth it. So for me it is worth it.
my experience with the cloud games on xbox series x, has been mixed. sometimes, the games look fine and have very little lag, and other times, they do have lag, and there is this visual effect that resembles the image refreshing in real time from top to bottom, its very odd. and this is always on the same exact, wired connection with like 300 mb down and 10 up. so even while holding the network variables constant, i was getting widely varying quality. thought it was interesting but i will always prefer to play the native versions for the time being.
I would say that latency should be the biggest concern worth cloud gaming. If I'm going to play something on the cloud, I'm not doing it on my main screens where I already have my consoles hooked up. More than likely, i'm going to be checking something out on a smaller screen, and I want the controls to be as close to spot on as possible.
Agreed. I also would have liked for them to at least say something like "this is what we generally found in many games" because it sounds like they only tested a single game
@maldosogamer calling it "potato quality" when most people aren't using this in large screens is laughable. The general consumer would not be able to tell you the difference between 4k and 1080p on a mobile device. In fact, on a screen 27" or less, the difference is negligible. I do agree that Xbox is really lacking, considering they've been the ones promoting their service the most these past 5+ years.
You didn't mention if you were comparing 4K vs 1080 in your latency test. You could also easily identify endpoints with packet sniffing to determine the internet latency between the different data centers.
@@selohcin xbox doesn't support 4k but Both ps5 and xbox support 1080p so the latency test should be set in 1080p for both platforms. I don't think DF set the ps5 on 1080p when doing the latency comparison.
The biggest difference for me is that PS+ streaming isn't available in my country yet, and Xcloud is available for more than 2 years now... I wish I could play the PS3 games on the cloud ):
Playing ps3 game on the cloud is never a good idea. The dated 720p resolution and the marco blocking from streaming makes the ps3 game looks super bad. I gave up the idea after trying a few game. The ps5 game streaming do looks good tho.
@@saelesbonsazse9919Why do you lie? Official: "With a PlayStation Plus Premium membership, you can choose to stream a wide selection of titles from the Classics Catalog and many PS4 games from the Game Catalog direct to your PS4 or PS5 console or PC without the waiting time or HDD space needed to download games."
I REALLY appreciate cloud streaming to quickly try out Playstation Plus games without requiring an install, and for certain games, it works so well, I just play the game this way by default. A few random points: 1) Quality is dependent on many factors (eg. proximity to data centres, local wired/wifi connection, tolerance of DCT blocking artefacts, speed of game, etc), but this is one of those technologies that is only going to get better as networks get faster, and software gets better. And it's already good in a number of scenarios. 2) There are "ownership" issues with cloud that (understandably) irk some players. 3) I would like to see this service playable on a Playstation Portal without requiring local Playstation hardware. There is nothing stopping this outside of some software. 4) I would like to see PS5 games playable on PS4 hardware. 5) Xbox cloud will get there. They just need to pour some more effort into it -- MS has networks, they just need a bigger push. And it would be a very useful benefit to their Game Pass business.
While it was critisised here, think using Series S is probably a good financial save on Microsoft's part as many probably would struggle to do 4k streaming anyway, so the 1080p target makes alot more sense. Id rather have a less compressed 720-1080p stream than a more compressed 1440-2160p stream.
@@219SilverChoc I agree, especially given the relatively early stages of cloud-gaming en mass. I tend to use 1080p stream (for example) even though I have a multi-gigabit connection. The overhead means less fuss, and on certain devices I can stream over Wifi, etc. I think cloud-streaming should be looked at, not as a perfect replacement, but as a solution for certain Playstation/Xbox games. You may not want to play Fortnite via streaming, but a game that doesn't require fast control (eg. RPG) may be just fine.
@@Gravy1255 No, no.. That's not how it works.. The PS4 can stream PS4 games just fine (PS4 generated game video), meaning it can stream any video just fine, including PS5 games (PS5 generated game video). This is not a technical limitation, just an artificial one.
I live in Greece and the only option for cloud streaming is from Sony's side,Xbox is nowhere to be seen in my country and in Europe in general,only country they support is the UK.Can't believe Sony's cloud is working better than MS,all they were talking about was play everywhere and cloud...I hope MS brings cloud in every country!
At what resolutions and bitrates were you streaming during the "Back 4 Blood" latency comparison? If the bitrates were drastically different on each console, then this would explain your difference in latency since larger sized frames would take longer to transmit over your 70 Mbps ISP connection.
since they didnt say anithing I'm quite sure they compared 4k sony vs 1080p xbox. Definitely a mistake in comparison... but neither the less still an important point, since you would still like to know how the latency in 4k on sony will be.
Any mention of the stark difference was always buried in kneejerk console war reactions, which is incredibly annoying, because usually im just talking about its shortcomings vs GFN when microsoft locks out a game like Palworld from GFN to promote xCloud, but the latter is an absolutely subpar experience, when PS+ and GFN genuinely makes you forget your streaming.
@@mrglass7133 Tbh. If you Compare the Sales from both Consoles. Than Sony is here the Clear Winner for 100%. Im using Both Consoles. But the Truth has to be Spoken. Microsoft has so many Deals where you can Buy Xbox Series X with 2 Controllers and 3 AAA Games for Less Money, and nobody Buys the Console.
It is, but not on the quality department. Is ahead because is avaiable everywhere, so is great to use on laptops, smartphones and tablets. PS Cloud is only on consoles and on PC (with a castrated version lol)
14:32 This is actually a HUGE annoyance when trying to play Fortnite over XCloud. I remember when it released, the readout in game said 60fps but the stream ran at 30. I guess this problem still occurs even years later...
PlayStation has been investing in the video game streaming service for many more years since PS3 when it bought Gaikai 720p, PlayStation Now 1080p and now PlayStation Plus Premium streaming 4k
Hot tip: eliminate controller input latency by bypassing the inputs via the streaming device to having it directly connected to PS5. How? Set up PS Remote Play on a sub account. Then enable 2nd controller access via accessibility. Once connected, hold the ps button and it'll jump you over to your main account without turning off the controller. Controller is now directly connected to PS5 and streaming is on your main account. In other words, your phone or tablet no longer registers receives controller input, but your PS5 does, meaning your phone or tablet solely downloads the video streaming leaving everything else to be done natively on your PS5 - eliminating a LOT of input latency to be more on par with Geforce Now
i did that a few months ago and it works great. My only complaint is that there is always a message on top that says remote play active or something like that.
I searched for this exact video and TH-cam gave me some garbage search results toward the top. I had to scroll down to find this video. It should be the first video that pops up!
Brilliant video as usual. Actually sold me on the quality of Playstation streaming which I was not expecting. I still won't get it as the last thing I need is to add more games to my backlog but good to know its there if needed
Wow the future of Xbox looks worse than I thought. We see a gradual push to dump local processing Xbox console hardware and go with streaming to a Game Pass app instead. Platforms that won't accept the Game Pass app will get a native local processing port of Xbox games. But the concern here is that if MS are going all in on streaming, you would have thought they would do it knowing they have the best service on the market. Turns out the Series X Azure server blades are downgrading the performance to Series S quality. PlayStation are offering streaming as an optional extra and already it is looking far superior to the Xbox offering. We see here that the PlayStation streaming service is pretty close to PS5 quality with a little loss of clarity due to mild compression at a decent frame rate, while the Xbox streaming service is Series S quality at best with horrendous video compression blur and a frame rate 20fps lower than PlayStation streaming. This is crazy. Everything Xbox touches, they cannot match PlayStation. MS cannot out-console Sony, they can't match the AAA masterpiece games and now we see they cannot even match the streaming. Xbox has become a budget downmarket service for casuals. Hardcore Xbox gamers are going to be thrown under a bus.
This video was super informative. I didn’t think Sony would ever compete with Xcloud due to all of Microsoft’s infrastructure. However, things are looking up for Sony’s streaming services.
Even in MS cloud streaming the S based hardware and engineering is holding them back. Sure it makes it more accessible, but in the end gamers want a superior experience. The S in series S stands for sacrifice.
Nah. Most cloud users are playing on their phones where the resolution difference isn't as noticeable. You can only stream PS5 games on a PS5, that's so pointless. Meanwhile on Xbox you can stream Series S/X games anywhere. Then when you play older games, PS3 games are stuck at low resolutions and framerates, meanwhile on the Xbox side 360 games are usually running on X1 hardware with enhancements. Xbox only lose in the one very niche comparison that doesn't represent the majority of cloud usage.
@@ricln5464if you watched the video then you’d see that the x cloud servers are running on series S based specs to optimize the streaming experience. In other words it’s a less than experience to what PlayStation users are getting.
No matter how good your internet connection is, streaming will always look worse and perform worse compared to playing it on actual hardware. For Xbox they should use Series X on their xCloud servers. That should help with performance. Yes it's expensive but Microsoft can afford it. They just choose not to.
@@jcdenton41100 yea they use series x but emulate series s hardware with it, mainly for wait times, more people use xcloud and Microsoft wants to cut those wait times down.
They use series x hardware as the servers and if it has the series x icon it will play in series x mode, at least through the gamepass app. Xcloud is mostly for playing on a different device (phone, tablet, etc), the streaming to local console seems aimed at you trying a game before downloading it locally, saving time and data.
Its wild given how ahead MS was in everything regarding cloud, just to be stuck in a cloud gaming beta for YEARS and then get outclassed by sony out of nowhere last year. Honestly, good on Sony. They waited and made a technical superior product, its quite impressive.
Honestly it’s surprising given that Microsoft has been talking about the Cloud for half a decade but Sony came up with a better alternative without making too much fuss about it.
If I recall Sony bought a company that was focused on this and had one of the best solutions in the PC space. So they've probably just continued to extend that proprietary software.
Sony can kiss my backside if they think i am paying them a min of $60 a year to get access to basic cloud savings for my games, something that is free on both steam and xbox....and they can kiss my backside a second time for putting back compat behind the most costly teir.
It's even more surpring how people does have an weak memory and assume that Microsoft started the whole thing... Sony has been doing Gaming Stream for a decade now, they acquired Gaikai and created the PlayStation Now in 2013, Microsoft launched the xCloud recently in 2021 ( almost a decade later )... But people think that Microsoft was the first one somehow 🤷🏻♂️
@@denzelvilliers And that PS Remote Play dates back even further to PS3's existence in 2006 as PSP already hit the market, and PS3 was the final piece in that puzzle. xCloud reminds me of PSP remote play with PS3.
Because neither of them come close lol I’ve had GeForce Now for about a year and I’ve tried both of these services PS and XB have a ways to go to catch up. Whatever Nvidia is doing is impressive with GFN.
I can't wait for that , nvidia and Sony are the only ones with cloud streaming at 4k with 60 fps , nvidia with their nvidia cards and Sony with the playstation 5 , that is gonna be a huge battle one vs one
@@scoty3434 I'd have to disagree. PlayStation streaming is ahead of Xbox but neither are on the level of GFN. When you can max out your games and still do 120 fps or at least a locked 60 fps PlayStation and Xbox can't compete with that. You have the Series X and PS5 up against a 4080 Nvidia card.
I love how people talk about LG's low latency figures vs Sony's when games add 80-150 ms of lag input and Sony delivers reality creation for no lag almost. Then you see the LG and Sony side-by-side and it looks like the Cloud version on the LG vs the Local install on the Sony. But let's go with the LG 😀
I feel like they're doing two different things. I own both a Series X and a PS5....how often have I streamed a game to my console? Once, to see if I wanted to install it. However, the xbox cloud you don't need an xbox to play, so often I'll continue my game at work on my phone or tablet. The Xbox cloud is for people without a console or people on the go. The Sony cloud is for....saving space?
@@SimonCheesewright console streaming works on pc and mobile. Can't go to work and play a game off the cloud. Still need a ps5 or else they'd be using that cloud streaming for the Portal. Right now the Portal you need a ps5 to use and have to in the same house as the ps5. Different services.
Xbox Console Streaming vs Remote Play (outside of the home & over mobile broadband) is what they really need to test & compare.....because THAT is not even a competition. Having access to your complete digital library or Gamepass installed games (and even one disc loaded) blows away both cloud services if you are using your own broadband (especially if you have upload speeds like FIOS offers). They also need to use a variety of Internet Providers because cloud streaming can vary GREATLY by the internet providers on both ends of your connection. 70mbps download and 20mbps upload is a crappy internet connection. Sorry....it is. As someone who has used both services for years.....Sony's offerings have been consistently inconsistent (i.e. random disconnects, stuttering & lag, system rebooting of Remote Play, etc.) with pristine internet connections, while XBOX Cloud and console streaming has been reliable even over the worst mobile broadband connections as slow as 30Mbps.
I played Gravity Rush 2 yesterday streaming and response time was phenomenal. I even played Demon Souls and Calisto Protocol that way since I didn't have space on the drive for the download. It's a really great convenience and doesn't deter from the experience you would normally get.
This is the real reason Sony released the PlayStation portal. In some instances games on PlayStation cloud run better than on the ps5 console itself. Sony already confirmed the portal can do cloud gaming but they want to work out the kinks first. Let them!
I have had a different experience. I played all of Ratchet and Clank: Nexus (PS3) via cloud and it was great all the times I went to play except one. A very good experience. I tried to stream Returnal and Horizon and the experience was not like streaming the PS3 games but very noticeable lag and tearing, so I have up, just installed Returnal and put off Horizon for the time. I played Halo Infinite a lot on cloud when on holidays, and even sometimes to my mobile phone and it was always very responsive, but sometime the resolution seemed lower. I also would play Goat Simulator through XCloud often with certain family members and it always was great. I think ultimately responsiveness is the most important factor, no matter how good it looks if it feels bad you won't play it. But ultimately there are a variety of factors that play into the results and such they can be mixed depending on game, connection ro servers, user WiFi, etc and you should try it all for yourself.
I will say though that, in my experience, local streaming from my Xbox Series X to a handheld android on my home wifi has a much better image quality than local streaming from my PS5 to the same handheld. I can't really tell if the lag is better on one of the other though but it doesn't feel too bad.
XCloud is horrendous. People that praise it on the Xbox forums are delusional. No matter what I do, it was always a bad experience. New cables, 1gbps, ethernet with gold wrap, etc. It was unbearable. Also like to add it’s supposed to be a portable type of deal. I would like to be willing to use it anywhere for travel but if I can’t even get it to run at my house then I sure as hell won’t have a good experience outside.
It depends. It has better image quality, but worse latency. I would say Microsoft is better, because you can actually play there (I take input latency over image quality any day of the week)
And Sony is only using a console for THIS and don't forget than Microsoft has the PC on he s SIDE by a while now TO achieve,THIS more than Sony and Sony is only using the PS5 console for THIS , very incredible by Sony , INCREDIBLE
@@alejandrofuentes3022 2FPS more latency at 60FPS is hardly what I would call poor also Xbox itself had lower latency in the tested game. Furthermore, as others have pointed out PS+ was pushing a 4K image at 60FPS while xCloud was delivering 1080p60 (at an absurdly low bitrate), which likely has a knock-on effect pertaining to latency.
Do people still believe the "power" of the cloud fairytale Spencer keeps pushing down people's throat? When latency has the final word out the window goes 60 fps and resolutions above 720p. Heavy image compression, input lag, stutter, and framerate drops is what you get with game streaming. I have yet to see at least one cloud game that can run at 60 fps and at res higher than 720p
Every time, there's always this mismatch where cloud streaming games feel like they should be targeting users who don't have a lot of money, as a cheap alternative to not being able to afford native hardware. And every time, it's treated like this super-premium thing you're expected to pay top dollar for, when if you're paying top dollar for anything, it should be for the hardware to play this locally at maximum fidelity, not with blurry compression and extra latency.
I dont think it's relevant at all, Microsoft is covering more countries, sure, but there is still A LOT of countries that doesnt have the service, and many of them in South America.
It's not here in India, so it's irrelevant to me that it is available in Brazil and PS+ is not, and therefore also irrelevant for the video to mention it.
Two things that weren’t mentioned here but I dealt with almost every time I used xCloud were: long queue times and dropped frames/inconsistent frame pacing. For me xCloud would make me wait 5 to 10 minutes to start a game, sometimes I’d just give up before it started. The times I did get to play I’d deal with frame rate stutter and even have the entire screen be horribly compressed and re-drawing. I’ve spent more time streaming games on the PS5 in three months than I did in two years on XSX. This video explains to me why that’s the case. Someone asked what use cloud gaming has on a PS5. I use it to try out a large game to see if it’s worth me clearing 100 GB of storage to download it. I believe you also have to stream PlayStation classic titles from PS1, PS2, and PS3 to play on the PS5.
The way I see it is that Hybrid Cloud systems will probably optimize the latency. Render locally but render highly complex algorithms in the cloud and send it back. Interesting times we live in. This whole system becoming like Netflix is not far off.
Microsuck being microsuck!!! They have their own cloud platform azure, have loads of data center around the world not to mentioned have more trillion of dollars but yet still take the L here. Let's face it, microsuck have never cared about gaming at all!!!
Looking forward to cloud streaming upgrading to AV1 and applying some AI to anticipate player actions and decrease lag. Unfortunately, we're probably going to need some new hardware on both ends to minimize the latency due to the compression and decompression process.
90% of multiplatform games look better on PS5....and now DF has shown PS Plus Cloud also has better image quality and FPS than XCloud....what else is new??
I really can't take Digital Foundry seriously when it comes to analysing game streaming. Their stadia coverage was horrifically inacurate, at times saying things that were just plain wrong, and for some reason thinking that testing their connection wirelessly in a car next to a tower was the best possible connection they could get. The internet connection they are using for this very video is questionable! 17Mbps Down and 20Mbps Up... Technically yes, netflix recommends 15 Mbps or higher for a 4k stream, at that point basically any other activity will mess with the results, affect imput lag, the stream's fps (they aren't monitoring the game's fps directly in the server farm after all), and the quality of the image. Their coverage does seem better in this video vs older ones, but I can't help but feel they really should have used a better internet connection that removes all doubt of that being an issue.
I hope cloud gaming goes in the bin, most don't want it & most don't need it, only those that want it are those with who want bigger profit margins by removing the distribution of disks and consoles, imagine being in debt and you cannot afford fast Wi-Fi in the future, our games are then locked into their eco-system, you will nothing and have to be happy.
Yes, same, I try 90% of the time to not buy games digitally because thats what will happen eventually but every other year or console generation they implement new iterations into a digital only future like online only limited games, games too big for disks, WiFi only console setups and the list goes on but bigger disks could be available soon called (Very Big Disc™ up to 200tb) but I bet companies like Microsoft don't wanna use them just so they can hit the next trillion in market cap.
I wanna add subscription only games into the mix. It’s crazy to me that you have to pay Sony and Nintendo monthly to play legacy games which should just be purchases.
@@Ryder187-r3pYup they know what they're doing but most people don't because they're living in a bubble due to them going with the conveniency of not having to go too the shop or waiting for a delivery.
@@johnconnorpliskin7184 Avoid those subscriptions, they use them like a mind trick like a desirable piece of cake with different layers with a cherry on top just so people will go back for those fancy decorations (legacy games), burn the discs and emulate them but I avoid subscriptions because lets say people only play Battlefield or Call of Duty (which plenty of people do) via a subscription and they have played that game for three years straight, people would ended up paying like 400+ in cash compared to paying 70 for that game once, no thank you.
Fantastic comparison! I've never used either service, but my (only) gaming PC is also in the Cloud (Shadow Boost) and as long as the internet connection is stable and has low latency it works like charm. Of course there are video compression artifacts, especially in movement, but I tend to not notice that most of the time. Unless I'm specifically looking for it (or if the available bandwidth is too low)
the bitrate sucks for Xbox, even for local remote play. Especially when compared to solutions such as PS Remoteplay and Moonlight (PC), it is clearly far behind. I use streaming a lot and the difference is VERY noticeable to the point that I dont want to use stream Xbox games anymore but could streaming from my PC or PS5 any time without any problems. They clearly made it this way to match the quality of xCloud, which as the video proves is also inferior to PS cloud gaming solution and no doubt inferior to Geforce Now I hope they fix this as Xbox actually has the cheaper games and gamepass sub in my region.
I use MirrorPlay and XBplay on an iPad 12.9 with a DualSense on my home network and, while both work fine, the image quality on PS5 is higher because MirrorPlay (PSplay on Android) allows you to use a HEVC stream at a higher bitrate and, importantly, HDR. Combined with the Mini LED of the Pro 12.9, it’s enough to be my main way of playing now.
I never thought Sony would beat Microsoft at their own streaming game without even trying lol. All this in the face of Microsoft trying to push the market in this direction and they can't even lead in that either.
"without even trying" - oh this is definitely trying. Sony seem to be dedicating a full PS5 system on their server end for each instance, which is pretty ambitious, and potentially not that cost effective if scaled up. But there's a reason it requires highest tier PS membership, which means high paying customers, and less of them.
I just never thought Sony would beat Microsoft when it comes to streaming considering how much of a powerhouse Microsoft is in the cloud computing market.
After all the bragging about Xcloud that Xbox has done, you would think they would beat their competitor who is not even serious about cloud gaming, in cloud gaming😂
@@yomamasohot6411 it really should be a clean sweep. Idk what’s going on with Microsoft to where they let Sony beat them at their own game lol, especially being the pioneers of cloud gaming like you said
First guess is the contractor model. It's godawful.@@ArchThaBoss
@@yomamasohot6411well remember that sony bet on cloud more than 10 years ago when they acquired that Gaikai cloud company
@@yomamasohot6411 They did beat Sony in latency tho? The only place where they're worse is picture quality, but mostly because xCloud designed for a slightly different use case. Unlike Sony's Cloud that can be only played on PS5 hardware at the moment, xCloud was designed to be accessible from all other devices and phones in the first place, hence lower resolution since they expect people to play on smaller screens and not TVs, although would be nice if they started to expand this having quality mode for streaming
The number of YEARS Microsoft has used “it’s a beta” as an excuse for poor performance is a joke. I still remember on stage them touting how it’s a game changers and all the games coming to xcloud. Most games are unplayable unless you insist on cloud gaming or don’t have another option.
This generation is beta, now they have new processor for cloud blades or they gonna improve this from next gen hardware also GP is on geforce now if you want best quality.
The games are perfectly playable. I played through Halo Infinite and Starfield (for as long as I could tolerate it) on my laptop through xCloud. I don't consider it a replacement for my Series X, but another option to play certain games.
XCloud is a joke compare to the PS Plus. What happened Microsoft ???
@@butchdeadlift7551 I tried it and it was abysmal for me with 600Mbps connection. The server is just too far and it gets really, really laggy. Plus image quality is terrible anyway.
@@Hazemann Try to actually use PS5 streaming, then you found out it only works on a PS5, why should you stream instead of download it and play locally?
Xcloud on the other hand is a real cloud gaming service with large amount of users using it on Android, PC, ios, Samsung TV's and more.
IMO the PS5 cloud streaming has been the biggest benefit of the top tier PS+ service. I have so many games in my library that I’ve had to delete from my SSD due to storage space that it’s great to be able to dip back in via streaming and save that 100gigs of space. I’d say it works with the majority of my purchased titles. Maybe 65-75%? It’s such a massive improvement to the old PSNow streaming that for *most* games I have found video quality to be nearly indistinguishable from a local install (when playing in real time and not 2x zoom). Latency is case by case as some games feel almost perfect but others do feel a bit laggy.
Yet it’s locked into Sony’s hardware ….
Completely useless if you want to go to a friends house to game if you have to lug around a console where as with xcloud, no console is needed. You can just stream directly onto a smart TV or a cheap laptop.
Sony needs to change this if they want to attract people outside of their ecosystem
@@christophervanzetta you can also stream PS on a cheap laptop...
@@christophervanzetta in your hypothetical scenario you're expecting other people to _also_ have fast internet, large data plans, good ping and high end routers to actually stream games at all which most people don't in the world yet... hence why most of the world still plays games natively.
Even if their internet was good enough, its probably not realistically good enough to support that plus others in the household streaming TH-cam/Netflix etc at the same time.
Game streaming has been such a niche market for ages and still is now, i don't see it becoming mainstream for ages... if ever honestly and i think its crazy Xbox is putting all their focus into it.
@@christophervanzetta I may not have a library of 100's of games available to me while at a friend's but I can play any game that's installed on my console via remote play on my mobile. And I can install any game I want to play remotely anyway using the PS app. We've had remote play since 2006 in varying iterations, that's almost 2 decades ago lol, I don't see why playstation needs to change when it's Xbox that's been playing catch up this whole time. But enjoy your green kool aid
@@christophervanzetta not tru dude. Remote play is accessable on PC and phone lol
Tom needs to do more videos!
In general yes, but hopefully they won't be as poorly skewed as this one.
He's the best of them, then xedgelord2002x aka dark1x
he needs to talk like he's not on cocaine.
@@joejoe2658 maybe he is
Wtf?
As an Xbox fan, xCloud is absolutely baffling.
Queue times (and long ones), no manual streaming resolution/framerate settings, stuck at 1080p.
When I had my One X, I was kinda happy that I had the ability to play Series S/X games via xCloud… but that quickly changed because of the very poor streaming quality.
The queue time is insane. Sometimes, it’s 15 minutes. Like wtf.
no gyro, no vr, no haptics, no triggers...
@@techbulb3440never had queue time. 🤷🏼♂️ never
Picture quality is much better if you're using a PC and monitor to stream game pass vs xbsx and larger screen TV.
I never had any queue on xcloud.
Didn't even know that exist 😂
But I have to admit quality is a huuuuuge problem.
I used to play phantom pain on my PC, when my wife is looking something on TV, and what a disappointment....
I thought it was my fault because I didn't go for change any parameters etc...
But it's just disgusting on my screen (2k resolution)
I tried cloud and thought the 4K games looked like 900p and I guess I wasn't wrong.
why would you stream if you have a 4k display? just download the game at that point. the streaming solution microsoft came up with was clearly meant for other use cases, such as gaming on mobile devices or on smart TVs without a console
@@TyrannicToe56 If I want to try a game but don't want to download, because drive space is a premium. I have 200Mbps, but it still takes a while for some of these games to download, and I may not have the available space.
@@TyrannicToe56 in xclouds case it makes no sense to play a series s game streamed when the series s itself is so damnm cheap
@@TyrannicToe56Yes it was and it works wonderfully for me in those scenarios.
Not sure what went wrong here in this video as I don’t have any of these issues, but i’m also in America and pretty close to one of their servers
@@TyrannicToe56 Because most people don't have the storage to download every game they own, I have over 2,000 games.
Microsoft: We've been waiting for this. Let's make an upper tier xcloud subscription for higher resolution and performance and charge them more for it
They really need to honestly.
It‘s just easier to jack up ultimate’s price
Edit: I missed the Microsoft viewpoint of the comment, my comment is null to you, but I'm leaving it to back up your point.
It seems so weird to me that you're asking to pay extra for their service to work competitively... that's the opposite of capatlism and you're a companies dream consumer.
Reminds me of when Xbox 360 was charging for online and ps3 wasn't. Was I aware Xbox was better at it and reliable, without question. Did it matter to me vs the free option? No and I still use my ps3 regularly to this day.
Why when playstation already has 4k 60
Microsoft: "no vr, no gyro, no triggers, no touchpad.... fuck em"
Weird I thought people were saying Xcloud was better but I guess all those years with PSNow really came in clutch for Sony
PSNow is great on console, especially with older Ps2 and Ps3 games.
yea. I have gotten multiple answers from people who said, that sonys picture quality is so bad, that you can not even compare it with xcloud.
Its safe to say, that these people were talking about playstation now and never tried or even researched for playstation plus premium streaming....
I didn't know XCloud has fallen so far behind and that PlayStation cloud streaming has improved so much. Thanks, Tom!
I suppose the strategy entails delaying the upgrade of their cloud infrastructure until they've completed acquiring more publishers. Government regulators such as the CMA and FTC are closely monitoring the situation.🤷♂
@IROCKYGAMES do you get paid to defend Xbox on the internet?
@@yomamasohot6411 Sony has no 1st party games for the next 2 years.🧐😳💚
PS Remote Play and Streaming were always decent. GeForce Now is the best, but not by as much as you'd expect.
no gyro, no vr, no haptics, no triggers...
Thanks for taking the time to do this video, Tom! I often use the PS5 cloud streaming to save storage space on my console. My kids can also play lots of the games right away on there without downloading. It’s not a bad option
It's worth pointing out that 4K streaming on PS5 is still available on a 1080p display!
No shit
its also not actually 4k
Do you even hear yourself talk?
Lmao what?
Explain.
Going forward, it'd be awesome to see latency testing become a regular feature in all technical reviews for games that y'all do. It's a really important stat to consider and speaks to how a game "feels" rather than looks which cannot otherwise be conveyed. Many gamers specifically are looking for responsiveness in their games, especially online and co-op games.
yea so xbox can win atleast one category😂
I suppose before PSNow ended and was folded into Plus streaming, Sony had many years (since buying Gaikai in 2015) to noodle around with game streaming encode/decode optimisations and strategic data center selection. Then they opted for beefy server hardware instancing to support PS5 streaming, which helps on the video side.
the big problem i see is that 90% of people still think, that sony offers the bad quality psnow had....
In a discussion about cloud gaming service a horde of people were telling me, that sony streaming is so bad, you couldnt even compare it with the quality of xcloud. Its the absolute opposite situation, but people just dont know, and are to ignorant to do some research....
> Be the second biggest Cloud Provider
> Plan ahead so the entire generation is setup to be streamed
> Push it with marketing
> Still loose in spectacular fashion to your competitor who doesn't even take could streaming serious.
Pretty sure Sony are paying to use MS Azure servers though 😅
@@fcukugimmeausername thats why its so funny. They use Microsoft Technology and get better results than Microsoft themselves.
@@floppa9415No one uses cloud gaming though.
@@floppa9415only in picture quality tho, and because they're using different approach. They would probably won in both if they used Series X hardware level, but I guess they think that people that stream to phones or web browsers won't need 4K, while PS streaming only works on consoles that are most likely to be connected to a big 4K TV where this more important.
@@TakisEnjoyer
Most phone displays are well above 1080p resolution. Basically, all Samsung phones have a 1440+ resolution display now, and since 2017 or so many flagship Sony Xperia phones literally have 4K displays. Many mobile displays today support 120hz and HDR10+. Decent 1440p60 streaming is the minimum MS should've targeted and PS over delivered with 4K60 plus HDR! Not bad considering GeForce Now costs more per month, plus you need to link your existing account libraries or pay for games on an individual basis. I mean GeForce Now provides the best image quality and lower latency, but it also costs more and isn't part of a wider service with other benefits where PS+ Cloud Streaming and xCloud both are part of another service.
I have been using Sony's streaming on and off since it was a part of PS Now and I very rarely have had issues if I am just streaming a game. In comparison when I have played games on my Xbox or even on a PC I will get times where the picture breaks up momentarily while playing. That alone puts me off of using it. Even the PlayStation streaming on PC is similar quality to console so it's definitely not dependent on hardware.
Sounds like you've not used NVIDIA's streaming service - GeForce Now. Ultimate tier is indistinguishable from a native install. 4k 120fps running on a cloud based 4080 PC.
@@acurisur in terms of performance there is no comparison to nvidia. Still the user xperience is lacking a lot.
The permanent login screens if you play any "NOT STEAM"-Game. You can start a xbox games, end it start it again and you again need to insert your password, its horrible.
Also that they don't allow you to safe your settings on priority tier leads to horrible problems in some games. For example some Games safe their button mappings into the same ini file like the grafical settings. Due to this situation after every restart of the game you would have to change your button mappings again.
It happenes so often that after a patch occured games are down for 4-7 days until the game is playable again, the browser and mobile apps don't offer 4k streaming and more than 60 fps even when you pay for ultimate.
I wish xcloud was more like google stadia tech wise.... Just press a button on your controller and you are ingame already...
Excellent overview Thomas! I can't even imagine the amount of testing and video capture that was required for this. Thanks!
Thomas, I feel like you should have mentioned that Playstation plus cloud streaming PS5 games is only available on an actual PS5, where as xCloud is available in windows and android and smart TVs and iOS.
This is a critical difference as you don't need to own an Xbox to play their games. £13 a month subscription is enough, where as you actually need to buy a PS5.
PS Plus streaming is available on PS4 and PC also with no PS5 required. PS Now had phone, TV, PC, PS4 and Vita years before Xcloud was a thing but it wasn't as popular back then and they dropped it to consoles only for a while. The current PS Plus streaming is supposedly coming to other devices soon but no dates were given. This was told by a high up sony rep during an interview a few months back.
@@griffsgamestreams incorrect. You cannot play any PS5 games when you play PS cloud on windows. Only PS4 and older.
@alexxxxxxxx in your original post you said Playstation plus cloud streaming is only available on an actual PS5. You didn't say PS5 cloud streaming.
@@alexxxxxxxxthat makes what they said correct, not incorrect
@@115zombies935 yes I'm sorry for my mistake
Cloud gaming is how I first managed to play TLOU 1 back in the day. I had a vita but no home system and played the whole thing on Sony's streaming service on my dad's terrible wifi. Dropped frames, crashes, and lots of lag was a consistent part of the experience, but I still fell in love with that game and I've played it many times since. I think these technologies are really cool for those who can't access the games otherwise and hope they keep getting better. Surprised Microsoft seems to have lost to Sony in this one though. Thanks for covering this!
But Sony only allows 4K/PS5 game streaming to PS5 consoles, so Sony doesn't handle your use case. It is basically pointless service at the moment.
Xcloud has technical drawbacks but it is an actual game streaming service that let you play console games without a console.
@@thomasjohansson4763
You can play them on a potato PC too but yea, Sony’s behind on device support while MS’s behind on streaming quality. Both are behind on ecosystem accessibility, you should be able to buy/stream any game from any device you’re accessing the service from.
@thomasjohansson4763 what you said. Im pretty sure theres more gamepass users than there is PS+ premium uses on the cloud. You dont need an xbox to stream the games. When im bored and not home ill stream some games on my phone. On a small device you barely even notice the visual drawbacks
@@stephenpawking haha sadly I tried to use it to stream microsoft flight sim the other day and it was borderline unplayable. That said my WiFI isn't great but it was comparable to playing TLOU1 via streaming on the PS Vita almost 10 years ago. I'm sure with really solid WiFi the experience is perfectly playable and enjoyable and I think it's a good option when it does work.
I also had to play it the first time streaming. Fell in love with it the same way. Miss them days
Microsoft is always talking about cloud this, cloud that. Sony never made the whole cloud thing that big of a selling point and yet, as we can see, they're doing it miles better. It's time to step your game up Microsoft. This is Game Pass Ultimate, let's be true to the name!
“Lag Face Off” is the perfect way to describe a a game streaming comparison 😂 I know the future someday is inevitable, but god I hope we can hang onto hardware as long as humanly possible
Yea considering it’s these two. GFN Ultimate is basically imperceptible. Even John (and he hates the idea of it) said he could barely tell he wasn’t playing locally on a 4080 card. And he actually does this for a living LOL.
it mostly has a place for people who travel a lot, Ive noticed. So it's convenient in that aspect, cuz it's not killing the battery as if it were running the game itself
The quality of the average internet connection makes me think it's going to be a long wait. I'm still not convinced it's the future for that reason alone tbh.
I don't think so. People can play all games without upgrading their hardware for years and "Subscription fatigue" has well and truly set in.
Same. I don't want to stream all of my games. That would suck.
I played Cyberpunk on Stadia w/ the chromecast and Stadia Controller. That was 2 years ago and it was amazing. I had no issues and put 120 hours into it. They had it solved. The key was having the Controller independently connected to the server via wifi. The Stadia service was incredible. It's a shame it never took off.
Bad business strategy killed it early but that’s google for you 🙄😂
I still doubt that actually helped much at all. Gamers Nexus even showed Stadia didn't actually have better latency with the wifi based controller, their most responsive input method was actually using the browser with a mouse and keyboard.
I mean it makes sense as now the service sends both signals over the same packets rather than two devices going over the servers and ISPs. The truth is if you thought Stadia was responsive, you'd like any other streaming service. Stadia wasn't even remotely better than the alternatives. The average latency was still in the same 150ms like PS Subscription and Xcloud is now. Again some people just don't notice latency like others.
@Skylancer727 sadly that's just how it is, for some they just don't notice the latency, and I guess that's a blessing in disguise
My biggest issue is the 50% addition to latency, which ruins any cloud streaming service for me. I'd be happy to use it, when they manage to get it down to 20% or so. Blurring/macroblocking the image I can stomach, after all modern TAA does a good job of applying Vaseline and ive accepted that, but a laggier game just doesn't cut it for me. Parsec was good, not quite there yet (I know it's local streaming vs cloud)
I tried xcloud too. FPS games were practically unplayable. The latency with button presses was short, but noticeable and it ruins the experience. I played both. The Stadia experience was exponentially better. Same internet.
The service that's taken over where Stadia left off is GeForce Now from NVIDIA. Up to 4k streaming at 120fps with minimal latency (I can't tell the difference between a native install and streaming).
Now we need a remote play testing video to see how it compares to cloud/install
How did Sony beat Microsoft at their own game? Thats embarrassing given how much they've talked up x cloud
By investing more resources per instance. Really all it comes down to. Microsoft went for quantity over quality, while Playstation is prioritizing quality. Microsoft can absolutely change this prioritization fairly easily, but it'll have to make financial sense for them to do so.
Xbox’s is still in beta
@@maynardburger “more resources per instance” imo no, the biggest difference is that the ps cloud steaming service has a lot less users, Microsoft has millions way too many people using it to play Fortnite and other games which costs money, they seem to be prioritised with cutting wait times for games like Fortnite. If PlayStation cloud service pulled the same numbers as xcloud, the quality would be degraded massively to accommodate more users, or it would be even more expensive.
I was shocked. From the marketing I thought xcloud would be way better. Especially after Microsoft used to have their own streaming service, mixer. And also all the video streaming thats involved in Microsoft teams.
But I guess playstation buying gaikai 12 years ago actually did pay off.
I wouldn't say it's "their own game", Sony has been investing on Gaming Stream since 2013 when they acquired the Gaikai Company and created the PlayStation Now, while Microsoft did start only in 2021.
Thank you for the video! It would be great to also see Moonlight/Sunshine local streaming analysis, as it’s one of the best (wired) streaming solutions at the moment. Love your videos ❤
I second this and will keep bringing it up until it happens.
We need Moonlight vs console streaming (local and cloud),
And Moonlight on a handheld gaming device vs native steam deck
@@MrWizardGG yeah, Moonlight is absolute gold! I’ve just installed it directly (!) on my LG TV and now I don’t even have to place my PC next to my TV, all that’s needed is Ethernet cable. Crazy (good) stuff! 😍
I've just installed Moonlight directly onto my LG TV and it's working great.
Keyboard/controller passthough (though TV) also works. Feels almost like magic 😍
Yes we definitely need this!
@@MrWizardGG i wish i could use moonlight with my amd graficscard. I know that sunshine exists but sadly with multiple installation attemps I never got it to work.
When I start the stream I see only a black picture with only my mouse beeing visible....
Latency is the number one issue. I can take a hit in quality as long as the latency is better.
Latency is better on Xcloud because of lower bitrate, resolution and frames plus he tested only one game and it relies on online servers/hosts so latency changes every match. The latency test in this video is honestly ridiculous for the Digital Foundry standards
So give up 4K for slightly faster 720p?
Both latency and video quality are better in playstation. It would be one thing if Microsofts xcloud looked worse but played better, I would actually prefer that, but it's just not the case.
@@DaRkLoRd-rc5yu PS+ Cloud Streaming has higher bitrate and resolution compared to xCloud, but xCloud has better latency.
Tom seems to prefer the better image quality rather than the snappier controls. If you look at the side-by-side comparisons, it becomes clear why.
Gameplay is king.
The biggest difference that will determine if people even try it is the price. It’s simply not worth the cost at the moment
It's not worth the cost if you've already bought the exclusives at launch.
My buddyy is going through the Horizon games right now, saving at least $60
price is great as far as xcloud goes what do u mean, u pay for gamepass ultimate 16 bucks and can play a ton of games like say this months added games u have persona 3, tales of arise, dead island 2, resident evil 2 remake, etc list goes on including all of xbox exclusives...heck if you collect Microsoft rewards points daily u can get it free, i did, accumulated a whole year for free and played everything on my phone with kishi controller...ps plus isn't bad either if u missed most games, just wish similar to xbox they would release it in app form on phones or at least on the ps portal like they had psnow on the vita at one point...geforce now is amazing visually it's the crispest and u can run graphics and all the rt features max especially if u are playing on a phone the fact u will just need 720p or 1080p helps, the high fps u get plus dlss frame gen and reflex minimizes latency so much it feels like native heck u get more latency natively on console and say switch in comparison...only thing sucks with geforce u gotta own each game, although with how many epic store gave out for free and now that gamepass is a part of it too, so if u been collecting, it also is decent for a small monthly fee...besides if u get a year with these services u can save even more, literally u get 100s of games for the price of one essentially🤷♂️ btw i have standard 300mb spectrum internet here in the US, works great, so yeah streaming is actually pretty 🔥 if u use it like a handheld though and not TV, easily crushes downgraded looking ports on switch or steam deck running 30fps low settings, the small screen helps make it like clean again especially gforce is crisp like a sticker indistinguishable from native play
What are you smooooking?
You get 700 plus games
You get ubisof games that includes every assassin's creed, and every far cry, also watch dogs, and more.
You get free movies, with Bravia core, psvr2 games, you get ps collection including 30 of its most beloved fist party titles, and 4 new games get added every month!
Plus 4k streaming, as I said lay off that pipe my guy.
@@AlejandroOni hey now, I smoke weed constantly and I have absolutely no problem discerning reality 😂
I'd say this guy's problem is that he believes in God
I’m using plus premium cause I have a kid and she can stream the older games and games she wants which is usually kid friendly games. It’s pretty easy for her and makes it worth it. She doesn’t notice it but I do. But it’s really do able. And when the cousins come over the streaming services really makes it worth it. So for me it is worth it.
Great video, Captain Morgan. I always enjoy your style of coverage, and this video was particularly interesting to me. Keep up the great work, Guv’nor
he needs to talk like he's not on cocaine.
my experience with the cloud games on xbox series x, has been mixed. sometimes, the games look fine and have very little lag, and other times, they do have lag, and there is this visual effect that resembles the image refreshing in real time from top to bottom, its very odd. and this is always on the same exact, wired connection with like 300 mb down and 10 up. so even while holding the network variables constant, i was getting widely varying quality. thought it was interesting but i will always prefer to play the native versions for the time being.
What device do you use for cloud gaming, tablet, Phone, notebook?
I’ve experienced the same. Screen testing/“top-to-bottom scan-line” refreshing is the worst.
@@marcinwroniecki8902He mentions it in first sentence...🤦🏻
I would say that latency should be the biggest concern worth cloud gaming. If I'm going to play something on the cloud, I'm not doing it on my main screens where I already have my consoles hooked up. More than likely, i'm going to be checking something out on a smaller screen, and I want the controls to be as close to spot on as possible.
ps portal would be perfect
Agreed. I also would have liked for them to at least say something like "this is what we generally found in many games" because it sounds like they only tested a single game
Latency is very important but there is no excuse for the number 1 company in terms of cloud technology to offer such potato image quality on Xcloud
@maldosogamer calling it "potato quality" when most people aren't using this in large screens is laughable. The general consumer would not be able to tell you the difference between 4k and 1080p on a mobile device. In fact, on a screen 27" or less, the difference is negligible.
I do agree that Xbox is really lacking, considering they've been the ones promoting their service the most these past 5+ years.
@hamzaboughraira4455
PS portal would indeed be perfect if only Sony would allow it to access cloud streaming.
Perfect video as I just ordered a PlayStation Portal a couple days ago after much debate over how it performs.
You didn't mention if you were comparing 4K vs 1080 in your latency test. You could also easily identify endpoints with packet sniffing to determine the internet latency between the different data centers.
He did mention that. The Xcloud service doesn't support 4K streaming, so it's always 1080p. PS5 supports 4K streaming. They're not identical.
@@selohcin yes but PS Streaming can be set to 1080
@@selohcin xbox doesn't support 4k but Both ps5 and xbox support 1080p so the latency test should be set in 1080p for both platforms. I don't think DF set the ps5 on 1080p when doing the latency comparison.
The biggest difference for me is that PS+ streaming isn't available in my country yet, and Xcloud is available for more than 2 years now... I wish I could play the PS3 games on the cloud ):
RCPS3 is crazy in 4k some games even get a frame rate boost Dead Space 2
None of the two are available in my country😅
The biggest difference is for Xbox streaming you can use any device.
Playing ps3 game on the cloud is never a good idea. The dated 720p resolution and the marco blocking from streaming makes the ps3 game looks super bad. I gave up the idea after trying a few game. The ps5 game streaming do looks good tho.
@@saelesbonsazse9919Why do you lie?
Official: "With a PlayStation Plus Premium membership, you can choose to stream a wide selection of titles from the Classics Catalog and many PS4 games from the Game Catalog direct to your PS4 or PS5 console or PC without the waiting time or HDD space needed to download games."
I REALLY appreciate cloud streaming to quickly try out Playstation Plus games without requiring an install, and for certain games, it works so well, I just play the game this way by default.
A few random points:
1) Quality is dependent on many factors (eg. proximity to data centres, local wired/wifi connection, tolerance of DCT blocking artefacts, speed of game, etc), but this is one of those technologies that is only going to get better as networks get faster, and software gets better. And it's already good in a number of scenarios.
2) There are "ownership" issues with cloud that (understandably) irk some players.
3) I would like to see this service playable on a Playstation Portal without requiring local Playstation hardware. There is nothing stopping this outside of some software.
4) I would like to see PS5 games playable on PS4 hardware.
5) Xbox cloud will get there. They just need to pour some more effort into it -- MS has networks, they just need a bigger push. And it would be a very useful benefit to their Game Pass business.
While it was critisised here, think using Series S is probably a good financial save on Microsoft's part as many probably would struggle to do 4k streaming anyway, so the 1080p target makes alot more sense. Id rather have a less compressed 720-1080p stream than a more compressed 1440-2160p stream.
@@219SilverChoc I agree, especially given the relatively early stages of cloud-gaming en mass. I tend to use 1080p stream (for example) even though I have a multi-gigabit connection. The overhead means less fuss, and on certain devices I can stream over Wifi, etc.
I think cloud-streaming should be looked at, not as a perfect replacement, but as a solution for certain Playstation/Xbox games. You may not want to play Fortnite via streaming, but a game that doesn't require fast control (eg. RPG) may be just fine.
The ps4 has a limited download speed. I'm unsure how that would work with the ps5 games.
@@Gravy1255 No, no.. That's not how it works.. The PS4 can stream PS4 games just fine (PS4 generated game video), meaning it can stream any video just fine, including PS5 games (PS5 generated game video). This is not a technical limitation, just an artificial one.
@SeanLumly the gane streaming for ps5 will be much more taxing due to the amount of data it is downloading.... 4k vs 1080p is a lot more data lol.
I live in Greece and the only option for cloud streaming is from Sony's side,Xbox is nowhere to be seen in my country and in Europe in general,only country they support is the UK.Can't believe Sony's cloud is working better than MS,all they were talking about was play everywhere and cloud...I hope MS brings cloud in every country!
At what resolutions and bitrates were you streaming during the "Back 4 Blood" latency comparison? If the bitrates were drastically different on each console, then this would explain your difference in latency since larger sized frames would take longer to transmit over your 70 Mbps ISP connection.
since they didnt say anithing I'm quite sure they compared 4k sony vs 1080p xbox.
Definitely a mistake in comparison... but neither the less still an important point, since you would still like to know how the latency in 4k on sony will be.
You know things are dire when Tom samples Back 4 Blood for tests.
Holy Shit. Sony just bury Xbox here.
Any mention of the stark difference was always buried in kneejerk console war reactions, which is incredibly annoying, because usually im just talking about its shortcomings vs GFN when microsoft locks out a game like Palworld from GFN to promote xCloud, but the latter is an absolutely subpar experience, when PS+ and GFN genuinely makes you forget your streaming.
fake news confirmed
As usual
@
Michael-jr3gz
In your dreams
@@mrglass7133 Tbh. If you Compare the Sales from both Consoles. Than Sony is here the Clear Winner for 100%. Im using Both Consoles. But the Truth has to be Spoken. Microsoft has so many Deals where you can Buy Xbox Series X with 2 Controllers and 3 AAA Games for Less Money, and nobody Buys the Console.
Very interesting 🤔
Thanks a bunch Tom 😊👍🏼
After all the talk of Xcloud, Sony wipes the floor with what MS offers
Shocked to be honest, because I was always told xbox was light years ahead of the other consoles in cloud streaming
It is, but not on the quality department. Is ahead because is avaiable everywhere, so is great to use on laptops, smartphones and tablets.
PS Cloud is only on consoles and on PC (with a castrated version lol)
14:32 This is actually a HUGE annoyance when trying to play Fortnite over XCloud. I remember when it released, the readout in game said 60fps but the stream ran at 30. I guess this problem still occurs even years later...
Okay it in Geforce now
PlayStation has been investing in the video game streaming service for many more years since PS3 when it bought Gaikai 720p, PlayStation Now 1080p and now PlayStation Plus Premium streaming 4k
Hot tip: eliminate controller input latency by bypassing the inputs via the streaming device to having it directly connected to PS5. How? Set up PS Remote Play on a sub account. Then enable 2nd controller access via accessibility.
Once connected, hold the ps button and it'll jump you over to your main account without turning off the controller. Controller is now directly connected to PS5 and streaming is on your main account.
In other words, your phone or tablet no longer registers receives controller input, but your PS5 does, meaning your phone or tablet solely downloads the video streaming leaving everything else to be done natively on your PS5 - eliminating a LOT of input latency to be more on par with Geforce Now
Xbox is the best box!😁💚
@@IROCKYGAMES 😂
@@IROCKYGAMESget a life
i did that a few months ago and it works great. My only complaint is that there is always a message on top that says remote play active or something like that.
@@x0Fang0x true man. It's the one downside for sure
And this is what I'm talking about Microsoft wants to push cloud and disc less console's but their own products is bad .
I searched for this exact video and TH-cam gave me some garbage search results toward the top. I had to scroll down to find this video. It should be the first video that pops up!
just shows you how incompetent leadership is at xbox
Brilliant video as usual. Actually sold me on the quality of Playstation streaming which I was not expecting. I still won't get it as the last thing I need is to add more games to my backlog but good to know its there if needed
Good stuff Tom.
Wow the future of Xbox looks worse than I thought. We see a gradual push to dump local processing Xbox console hardware and go with streaming to a Game Pass app instead. Platforms that won't accept the Game Pass app will get a native local processing port of Xbox games. But the concern here is that if MS are going all in on streaming, you would have thought they would do it knowing they have the best service on the market. Turns out the Series X Azure server blades are downgrading the performance to Series S quality. PlayStation are offering streaming as an optional extra and already it is looking far superior to the Xbox offering.
We see here that the PlayStation streaming service is pretty close to PS5 quality with a little loss of clarity due to mild compression at a decent frame rate, while the Xbox streaming service is Series S quality at best with horrendous video compression blur and a frame rate 20fps lower than PlayStation streaming. This is crazy. Everything Xbox touches, they cannot match PlayStation. MS cannot out-console Sony, they can't match the AAA masterpiece games and now we see they cannot even match the streaming. Xbox has become a budget downmarket service for casuals. Hardcore Xbox gamers are going to be thrown under a bus.
This video was super informative. I didn’t think Sony would ever compete with Xcloud due to all of Microsoft’s infrastructure. However, things are looking up for Sony’s streaming services.
XCloud were as good as Stadia back when it used the old backbone before they swapped it to Series X.
Series X backbone ruined XCloud.
Even in MS cloud streaming the S based hardware and engineering is holding them back. Sure it makes it more accessible, but in the end gamers want a superior experience. The S in series S stands for sacrifice.
Nah. Most cloud users are playing on their phones where the resolution difference isn't as noticeable. You can only stream PS5 games on a PS5, that's so pointless. Meanwhile on Xbox you can stream Series S/X games anywhere. Then when you play older games, PS3 games are stuck at low resolutions and framerates, meanwhile on the Xbox side 360 games are usually running on X1 hardware with enhancements. Xbox only lose in the one very niche comparison that doesn't represent the majority of cloud usage.
@@RamblyBear cope harder bro its embarrassing
Dude people are not streaming games on their consoles. Unless they are trying them out. It's mostly on a phone or tablet.
Xcloud is based on X, not S.
And no, S isn't holding them back
@@ricln5464if you watched the video then you’d see that the x cloud servers are running on series S based specs to optimize the streaming experience. In other words it’s a less than experience to what PlayStation users are getting.
This was a great and detailed breakdown. Good job!
No matter how good your internet connection is, streaming will always look worse and perform worse compared to playing it on actual hardware.
For Xbox they should use Series X on their xCloud servers. That should help with performance. Yes it's expensive but Microsoft can afford it. They just choose not to.
tell that to series S, lmao.
@@jcdenton41100 yea they use series x but emulate series s hardware with it, mainly for wait times, more people use xcloud and Microsoft wants to cut those wait times down.
They use series x hardware as the servers and if it has the series x icon it will play in series x mode, at least through the gamepass app. Xcloud is mostly for playing on a different device (phone, tablet, etc), the streaming to local console seems aimed at you trying a game before downloading it locally, saving time and data.
Its wild given how ahead MS was in everything regarding cloud, just to be stuck in a cloud gaming beta for YEARS and then get outclassed by sony out of nowhere last year. Honestly, good on Sony. They waited and made a technical superior product, its quite impressive.
Are you streaming Back for blood at a higher res and higher frames on ps5?
Cope
Honestly it’s surprising given that Microsoft has been talking about the Cloud for half a decade but Sony came up with a better alternative without making too much fuss about it.
If I recall Sony bought a company that was focused on this and had one of the best solutions in the PC space. So they've probably just continued to extend that proprietary software.
Sony can kiss my backside if they think i am paying them a min of $60 a year to get access to basic cloud savings for my games, something that is free on both steam and xbox....and they can kiss my backside a second time for putting back compat behind the most costly teir.
It's even more surpring how people does have an weak memory and assume that Microsoft started the whole thing...
Sony has been doing Gaming Stream for a decade now, they acquired Gaikai and created the PlayStation Now in 2013, Microsoft launched the xCloud recently in 2021 ( almost a decade later )...
But people think that Microsoft was the first one somehow 🤷🏻♂️
@@bob23301 Agreed, PS Plus Premium just isn’t worth it but I’m not judging the service but only the streaming quality itself.
@@denzelvilliers
And that PS Remote Play dates back even further to PS3's existence in 2006 as PSP already hit the market, and PS3 was the final piece in that puzzle.
xCloud reminds me of PSP remote play with PS3.
Why would you not compare these to GeForce now? That’s the comparison I think a lot of folks want to see as well.
Because neither of them come close lol I’ve had GeForce Now for about a year and I’ve tried both of these services PS and XB have a ways to go to catch up. Whatever Nvidia is doing is impressive with GFN.
@@R.A.M131 I know, hence why the comparison would be cool to see.
This. I'm a big cloud person due to travel. GFnow is miles ahead both of these.
I can't wait for that , nvidia and Sony are the only ones with cloud streaming at 4k with 60 fps , nvidia with their nvidia cards and Sony with the playstation 5 , that is gonna be a huge battle one vs one
@@scoty3434 I'd have to disagree. PlayStation streaming is ahead of Xbox but neither are on the level of GFN. When you can max out your games and still do 120 fps or at least a locked 60 fps PlayStation and Xbox can't compete with that. You have the Series X and PS5 up against a 4080 Nvidia card.
I love how people talk about LG's low latency figures vs Sony's when games add 80-150 ms of lag input and Sony delivers reality creation for no lag almost. Then you see the LG and Sony side-by-side and it looks like the Cloud version on the LG vs the Local install on the Sony. But let's go with the LG 😀
I feel like they're doing two different things. I own both a Series X and a PS5....how often have I streamed a game to my console? Once, to see if I wanted to install it. However, the xbox cloud you don't need an xbox to play, so often I'll continue my game at work on my phone or tablet. The Xbox cloud is for people without a console or people on the go. The Sony cloud is for....saving space?
ps5 streaming works on mobile and pc too.
@@SimonCheesewright console streaming works on pc and mobile. Can't go to work and play a game off the cloud. Still need a ps5 or else they'd be using that cloud streaming for the Portal. Right now the Portal you need a ps5 to use and have to in the same house as the ps5. Different services.
no you are wrong i play cloud on the steamdeck no ps5 needed
Stop it bro ps plus justtt started making most games streamable .. your cappin
Once portal gets cloud it’s over
That's the only issue I have with game streaming (the lag), other than that I enjoy streaming my games on ps plus (generally).
Xbox Console Streaming vs Remote Play (outside of the home & over mobile broadband) is what they really need to test & compare.....because THAT is not even a competition. Having access to your complete digital library or Gamepass installed games (and even one disc loaded) blows away both cloud services if you are using your own broadband (especially if you have upload speeds like FIOS offers).
They also need to use a variety of Internet Providers because cloud streaming can vary GREATLY by the internet providers on both ends of your connection. 70mbps download and 20mbps upload is a crappy internet connection. Sorry....it is.
As someone who has used both services for years.....Sony's offerings have been consistently inconsistent (i.e. random disconnects, stuttering & lag, system rebooting of Remote Play, etc.) with pristine internet connections, while XBOX Cloud and console streaming has been reliable even over the worst mobile broadband connections as slow as 30Mbps.
they should call it Project sCloud at this point
I played Gravity Rush 2 yesterday streaming and response time was phenomenal. I even played Demon Souls and Calisto Protocol that way since I didn't have space on the drive for the download. It's a really great convenience and doesn't deter from the experience you would normally get.
Xbox Series S is holding xCloud back!
Playstation 🏆 Wins.
Yay?
This is the real reason Sony released the PlayStation portal. In some instances games on PlayStation cloud run better than on the ps5 console itself. Sony already confirmed the portal can do cloud gaming but they want to work out the kinks first. Let them!
PLAYSTATION PLUS IS STILL BETTER!!!!
Wrong Xbox Game Pass is better
@@aryannajib5691 Quit lying!!!🤣🤣🤣
Insane how xbox has fallen so far behind having all the backing of MS behind them. Like... wasn't cloud a super important thing for xbox??
Yeah, They seem to be done on all fronts.
How have they fallen behind when Xcloud is literally just BETA? It's not a full ongoing service.
@@Reprogrammed_By_SEGA How is Microsoft done on all fronts?
@@kahnsealableit's been in beta for years now
@@kahnsealableStill in 3rd place so you be the judge😅
DF should just start calculating input latency in all comparisons. Much larger impact than a few frames.
I have had a different experience. I played all of Ratchet and Clank: Nexus (PS3) via cloud and it was great all the times I went to play except one. A very good experience. I tried to stream Returnal and Horizon and the experience was not like streaming the PS3 games but very noticeable lag and tearing, so I have up, just installed Returnal and put off Horizon for the time.
I played Halo Infinite a lot on cloud when on holidays, and even sometimes to my mobile phone and it was always very responsive, but sometime the resolution seemed lower. I also would play Goat Simulator through XCloud often with certain family members and it always was great. I think ultimately responsiveness is the most important factor, no matter how good it looks if it feels bad you won't play it. But ultimately there are a variety of factors that play into the results and such they can be mixed depending on game, connection ro servers, user WiFi, etc and you should try it all for yourself.
I will say though that, in my experience, local streaming from my Xbox Series X to a handheld android on my home wifi has a much better image quality than local streaming from my PS5 to the same handheld. I can't really tell if the lag is better on one of the other though but it doesn't feel too bad.
XCloud is horrendous. People that praise it on the Xbox forums are delusional. No matter what I do, it was always a bad experience. New cables, 1gbps, ethernet with gold wrap, etc. It was unbearable.
Also like to add it’s supposed to be a portable type of deal. I would like to be willing to use it anywhere for travel but if I can’t even get it to run at my house then I sure as hell won’t have a good experience outside.
I wasn't expecting Sony to do better than Microsoft here 😮
It depends. It has better image quality, but worse latency. I would say Microsoft is better, because you can actually play there (I take input latency over image quality any day of the week)
And Sony is only using a console for THIS and don't forget than Microsoft has the PC on he s SIDE by a while now TO achieve,THIS more than Sony and Sony is only using the PS5 console for THIS , very incredible by Sony , INCREDIBLE
@@alejandrofuentes3022
2FPS more latency at 60FPS is hardly what I would call poor also Xbox itself had lower latency in the tested game. Furthermore, as others have pointed out PS+ was pushing a 4K image at 60FPS while xCloud was delivering 1080p60 (at an absurdly low bitrate), which likely has a knock-on effect pertaining to latency.
@@alejandrofuentes3022bro stop it your straight coping and its embarrassing
no gyro, no vr, no haptics, no triggers...
Do people still believe the "power" of the cloud fairytale Spencer keeps pushing down people's throat? When latency has the final word out the window goes 60 fps and resolutions above 720p. Heavy image compression, input lag, stutter, and framerate drops is what you get with game streaming.
I have yet to see at least one cloud game that can run at 60 fps and at res higher than 720p
Every time, there's always this mismatch where cloud streaming games feel like they should be targeting users who don't have a lot of money, as a cheap alternative to not being able to afford native hardware. And every time, it's treated like this super-premium thing you're expected to pay top dollar for, when if you're paying top dollar for anything, it should be for the hardware to play this locally at maximum fidelity, not with blurry compression and extra latency.
You forgot to mention that xcloud is available in more countries than PS cloud. Here in Brazil, only xcloud is available
This is an important factor. People will ultimately play what's available.
that doesnt change the quality of the service. Its a tech review not a guide -_-
I dont think it's relevant at all, Microsoft is covering more countries, sure, but there is still A LOT of countries that doesnt have the service, and many of them in South America.
@@timytimeerased pricing also doesn’t affect the quality of the service, however it was used in the review
It's not here in India, so it's irrelevant to me that it is available in Brazil and PS+ is not, and therefore also irrelevant for the video to mention it.
This is where the fun begins.
Two things that weren’t mentioned here but I dealt with almost every time I used xCloud were: long queue times and dropped frames/inconsistent frame pacing. For me xCloud would make me wait 5 to 10 minutes to start a game, sometimes I’d just give up before it started. The times I did get to play I’d deal with frame rate stutter and even have the entire screen be horribly compressed and re-drawing.
I’ve spent more time streaming games on the PS5 in three months than I did in two years on XSX. This video explains to me why that’s the case.
Someone asked what use cloud gaming has on a PS5. I use it to try out a large game to see if it’s worth me clearing 100 GB of storage to download it. I believe you also have to stream PlayStation classic titles from PS1, PS2, and PS3 to play on the PS5.
Everyone that defends this and XCloud deserves being laughed out of the room
I never had a problem with xbox streaming. I actually stream most games no problem.
The way I see it is that Hybrid Cloud systems will probably optimize the latency. Render locally but render highly complex algorithms in the cloud and send it back. Interesting times we live in. This whole system becoming like Netflix is not far off.
Microsuck being microsuck!!! They have their own cloud platform azure, have loads of data center around the world not to mentioned have more trillion of dollars but yet still take the L here. Let's face it, microsuck have never cared about gaming at all!!!
Looking forward to cloud streaming upgrading to AV1 and applying some AI to anticipate player actions and decrease lag. Unfortunately, we're probably going to need some new hardware on both ends to minimize the latency due to the compression and decompression process.
That sounds like it could have horrible side effects if the AI determines incorrectly.
Another great video. Only reason I would use cloud gaming is for hotels, but it doesn't work because hotel internet sucks.
90% of multiplatform games look better on PS5....and now DF has shown PS Plus Cloud also has better image quality and FPS than XCloud....what else is new??
I really can't take Digital Foundry seriously when it comes to analysing game streaming. Their stadia coverage was horrifically inacurate, at times saying things that were just plain wrong, and for some reason thinking that testing their connection wirelessly in a car next to a tower was the best possible connection they could get. The internet connection they are using for this very video is questionable! 17Mbps Down and 20Mbps Up... Technically yes, netflix recommends 15 Mbps or higher for a 4k stream, at that point basically any other activity will mess with the results, affect imput lag, the stream's fps (they aren't monitoring the game's fps directly in the server farm after all), and the quality of the image. Their coverage does seem better in this video vs older ones, but I can't help but feel they really should have used a better internet connection that removes all doubt of that being an issue.
I don't know what Phil Spencer is doing... The Xbox cloud service had years to get better but PS5 (again) won the cloud competition.
@@BirthToBurial10 but insert yt channel... wont lie to it users....
I hope cloud gaming goes in the bin, most don't want it & most don't need it, only those that want it are those with who want bigger profit margins by removing the distribution of disks and consoles, imagine being in debt and you cannot afford fast Wi-Fi in the future, our games are then locked into their eco-system, you will nothing and have to be happy.
Yes, same, I try 90% of the time to not buy games digitally because thats what will happen eventually but every other year or console generation they implement new iterations into a digital only future like online only limited games, games too big for disks, WiFi only console setups and the list goes on but bigger disks could be available soon called (Very Big Disc™ up to 200tb) but I bet companies like Microsoft don't wanna use them just so they can hit the next trillion in market cap.
I wanna add subscription only games into the mix. It’s crazy to me that you have to pay Sony and Nintendo monthly to play legacy games which should just be purchases.
@@Ryder187-r3pYup they know what they're doing but most people don't because they're living in a bubble due to them going with the conveniency of not having to go too the shop or waiting for a delivery.
@@johnconnorpliskin7184 Avoid those subscriptions, they use them like a mind trick like a desirable piece of cake with different layers with a cherry on top just so people will go back for those fancy decorations (legacy games), burn the discs and emulate them but I avoid subscriptions because lets say people only play Battlefield or Call of Duty (which plenty of people do) via a subscription and they have played that game for three years straight, people would ended up paying like 400+ in cash compared to paying 70 for that game once, no thank you.
Whats the sense using console itselft for cloud gaming instead of Just install on it. Cloud gaming on tablet, mobile or laptop has more sens for me
Yeaaah Tom is back!
he needs to talk like he's not on cocaine. he tried to say "GPU" with one syllable...
Nice Tom is back!
he needs to talk like he's not on cocaine. he tried to say "GPU" with one syllable...
Awesome work Tom!
Fantastic comparison! I've never used either service, but my (only) gaming PC is also in the Cloud (Shadow Boost) and as long as the internet connection is stable and has low latency it works like charm.
Of course there are video compression artifacts, especially in movement, but I tend to not notice that most of the time. Unless I'm specifically looking for it (or if the available bandwidth is too low)
the bitrate sucks for Xbox, even for local remote play. Especially when compared to solutions such as PS Remoteplay and Moonlight (PC), it is clearly far behind. I use streaming a lot and the difference is VERY noticeable to the point that I dont want to use stream Xbox games anymore but could streaming from my PC or PS5 any time without any problems.
They clearly made it this way to match the quality of xCloud, which as the video proves is also inferior to PS cloud gaming solution and no doubt inferior to Geforce Now
I hope they fix this as Xbox actually has the cheaper games and gamepass sub in my region.
no gyro, no vr, no haptics, no triggers...
I 100% agree with this. For local streaming, PS5 and Moonlight are *miles* ahead of XSX. It’s baffling 😂
I can play RPGs with XCloud just fine, I have played a lot of Persona 3 Reload via cloud just fine.
That game is perfect for cloud but playing something like halo or killer instinct is not so great
yes and? Nobody said xcloud is unplayable, just that ps cloud is better in image quality.
@@x0Fang0xstability>image Quality in cloud gaming
@@josesalgado1870
Great and xCloud has neither.
Thank you DF!
I'm shocked Microsoft are so behind. Especially as their marketing push for xcloud. Microsoft really failed in a lot of areas this console generation
I use MirrorPlay and XBplay on an iPad 12.9 with a DualSense on my home network and, while both work fine, the image quality on PS5 is higher because MirrorPlay (PSplay on Android) allows you to use a HEVC stream at a higher bitrate and, importantly, HDR. Combined with the Mini LED of the Pro 12.9, it’s enough to be my main way of playing now.
There are alternate remote play apps on ipads?
@@markedone494 actually it’s to remote play from hardware, but not for cloud play unfortunately.
I never thought Sony would beat Microsoft at their own streaming game without even trying lol. All this in the face of Microsoft trying to push the market in this direction and they can't even lead in that either.
"without even trying" - oh this is definitely trying. Sony seem to be dedicating a full PS5 system on their server end for each instance, which is pretty ambitious, and potentially not that cost effective if scaled up. But there's a reason it requires highest tier PS membership, which means high paying customers, and less of them.
PS+ streaming is older than Xbox streaming iirc. They put a lot of effort.
@@maynardburgeridc 😂 the point is sony is better