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On The Table Read Magazine, “the best entertainment magazine in the UK“, these are the best value for money gaming subscriptions available based on how much you get against the price.
These days there is always a re-occurring subscription cost with the purchase of any tech device that allows you to access content or services which can create a problem because not all consumers can afford these additional expenses. However, due to the cost of living crisis, most of us now have less money to spend on non-essentials, including entertainment subscription services. If the subscriptions service is not paid for, consumers must forfeit these features such as access to online play and additional storage, which can render these purchases obsolete.
To work out which subscription services are the best value of money, online gaming information site, Indivisible Game, investigated the most popular online gaming subscriptions against six criteria.
| Rank | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Service | Nintendo Switch Online | Xbox Game Pass | PlayStation Plus | EA Play | Ubisoft+ | Apple Arcade | Prime Gaming |
| Monthly Price (£) | 3.49 | 7.99 | 6.99 | 3.99 | 14.99 | 4.99 | 8.99 |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo Switch | Xbox / PC / Tablets / TV | PlayStation / PC | Xbox / PlayStation / PC | Xbox / PC / Amazon Luna | Apple Devices | Windows PC |
| 1. Online Access | Yes | No* | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| 2. Cloud Storage | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| 3. Multi-Device | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| 4. Classic Console | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| 5. Member Discounts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| 6. Weekly Updates | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Score out of 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
Nintendo Switch Online has come out as the best value-for-money gaming subscription service, offering the most benefits for the lowest price. Unlike other gaming services analysed, the service meets five of the six criteria, only missing the mark on the ‘Weekly Updates’ option, which was only met by Apple Arcade.
With a standard subscription to Nintendo Switch Online, you get access to online play, storage, and virtual consoles such as the NES, SNES, and Gameboy, including the free-to-play games within those virtual consoles. Additional content for the Switch’s biggest titles; Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, and Splatoon, is available in an expansion pack.
The service also provides an exclusive coupon that allows users to buy two games for the Nintendo Switch for £84, which provides a discount as big titles on the Switch starts at £49.99, that only subscribers can only purchase.
The second best value for money subscription is The Xbox Game Pass, which while standard subscription does not come with online or weekly updates, there are updates twice a month. Furthermore, online play can be added by purchasing Xbox Gold Live or the Game Pass Ultimate.
The service also allows for cloud storage, member discounts, and the ability to play new games on the same day as the release for the starting cost of £7.99.
In joint second place, PlayStation Plus met four of the six criteria, missing only the classic console and weekly updates.
Exclusive to PlayStation Devices and PC, offering a range of PS4 and PS5 games, the cheapest option of the service is £6.99. It offers benefit not found on any other service including online multiplayer, monthly games, exclusive discounts, and game help. The Premium Plan includes all benefits in addition to classic catalogue games, game trials and cloud streaming. PS Plus Premium members, which costs £13.49 a month, offers a classic catalogue of games from previous consoles, including the PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2.
Joint third best value-for-money gaming subscription, EA Play, is dedicated to all EA game titles. It gives users access to EA’s back catalogue of games as well as early access to upcoming titles. Because EA does not own any hardware, the service can only be downloaded to specific consoles; Xbox, PlayStation, and PC.
The service is the same monthly rate as Nintendo Switch Online, at £3.99, but offers fewer benefits.
Ubisoft+ ranks as the fifth best value-for-money, starting at £14.99. Ubisoft+ is dedicated to Ubisoft titles, similar to EA Play, with access to 100+ games and premium editions of games on PC games or on Xbox and Amazon Luna with a multi-access pass.
The service promises to add new indie games monthly and offers users a 10% discount on virtual currency packs for in-game use, and give user monthly rewards.
Apple Arcade, a subscription service only available on iOS devices for games on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV, comes in sixth. This service only met two of the six criteria, offering availability on multiple devices and weekly updates. For £4.99, up to five family members can join the same account.
Unlike other services, Apple Arcade allows you to play games offline at a baseline cost, and includes over 200 premium games not available on the app store, and original titles from the App Store, such as Fruit Ninja Classic+.
Prime Gaming, included within Amazon Prime benefits, comes in last and offers free games to play at no additional cost. The service only met two criteria, cloud storage and multi-device, and is only available on Windows PC by downloading the Amazon Gaming desktop app.
Users of Prim Gaming can subscribe to one Twitch channel a month and add badges to their chats to show they are subscribed via Prime Gaming. Users can store streams on Twitch for up to 60 days, as opposed to the standard 14 days.
A spokesperson from Indivisible Game explained that before purchasing gaming console, online subscription services are an important expense to consider. Brands often use tactics such as nostalgia and extra benefits to encourage users to subscribe to their services. For instance, Nintendo allows users to play video games from their childhood through virtual consoles, enticing users to subscribe to their services resulting in these additional costs.
New gamers can work out which gaming subscriptions offer the best value for money through his research, which is helpful during the current cost-of-living crisis. It’s important to compare these costs and benefits to find which subscription platform suits their individual needs, and if the benefits are worth the additional charges.
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