Forget Stadia: Shadow Looks More Epic Than GeForce Now & xCloud Combined
Instead of giving you access to a library of games, Shadow gives you access to an entire gaming rig. | Source: Shadow
- There are many companies trying to compete to offer game streaming to the masses.
- Shadow thinks they can offer a cloud gaming service with more freedom than any of their competitors.
- There are reasons to be optimistic, but we should remain cautious to avoid getting burned again.
Game streaming isn’t just the next big thing. From Google Stadia to GeForce Now, everyone claims they can usher in a new era of gaming right now.
The problem is, they all have restrictions. Either you have to buy new games (Stadia), or you have to rely on the service to secure licensing deals with publishers (GeForce Now).
European company Shadow claims that’s changing . They allege they can offer you a premium cloud gaming experience for as cheap as $11.99 per month – no strings attached.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KEMtd91WaM
Shadow Offers ‘Freedom’ from the Worst Parts of Streaming
Shadow’s biggest advantage is that it doesn’t have the sort of restrictions that plague Google Stadia and – to a lesser extent – GeForce Now.
Instead of giving you access to a library of games, Shadow gives you access to an entire gaming rig.
No longer do you need permission to install a game you already own, you just install it and start playing. For as long as you own the game.
It’s literally a first for modern-day game streaming options. That itself is pretty crazy.
Don’t Trash That Stadia Controller Yet
That’s the good news.
Here’s the bad news: The utter failure of Stadia has proven that there are no guarantees when it comes to game streaming. Maybe Shadow will beat Google, Nvidia, and even Xbox at their own game. But we don’t know that yet.
The service’s premium tiers – which tease 4k resolution with ray tracing – don’t go live until summer. Everything depends on Shadow’s ability to deliver on their tantalizing promises (and avoid blowback from publishers).
Yet we have reasons to be optimistic. Shadow inked a partnership with LG to accelerate device support. And the service plans to aggressively expand into the U.S. and Asia, which means it could see worldwide coverage.
That almost sounds too good to be true. We’ll know for sure soon.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.
