New gaming trends come around all the time and one that’s garnering lots of attention is the use of VPNs. Gamers around the world are exploring the possibilities a VPN brings to the digital table. It’s a trend exclusively seen in PC gaming as you can’t download and use VPNs on consoles yet.
The thing we’re most interested in is how VPNs have found a place in the modern gaming era. What do they offer and is it worth using a VPN the next time you play an online game?
A Quick Recap On VPNs
It would be silly to go on a rant about VPNs in online gaming without clearing up what they are and how they work. The term “VPN” stands for virtual private network and Microsoft Azure describes their main functionality as:
“Establishing a digital connection between your computer and a remote server, creating a point-to-point tunnel that encrypts your personal data, masks your IP address and lets you sidestep website blocks and firewalls on the internet”
If you want an even simpler definition, then the function of a VPN is broken down into four steps. This is what happens when you’ve activated a VPN on your computer:
- Any time you load a website or go online, your data is first connected to a VPN server.
- The VPN server then “encrypts” your data by scrambling it so nobody can make sense of it (including your ISP).
- Your connection shows it’s coming from a VPN server, not your real location or IP address.
- You can access the internet with data requests showing they’re from the VPN server, masking your location.
Essentially, the VPN works as a little shield to hide you while you’re online.
Ultimate 4 Uses For VPNs While Gaming
You can see how a VPN is useful while web browsing. Having this additional layer of protection can stop you from getting hacked if you accidentally click on a dodgy website/spam link. It’s also good to block your browsing habits from an ISP in case they like to syphon your data for marketing purposes.
But how can you use one while gaming? After asking around and having a quick play with a VPN, four key uses immediately jump out and make themselves known:
Improve Your Ping
Anyone who’s ever played an online multiplayer game will know how annoying bad ping is. Ping is a way of testing the connection and response time between two devices. In gaming terms, your ping is how quickly you’re able to connect to a server in the game. The higher your ping, the more lag you’ll experience as it takes longer to send information between the two points.
Keep in mind that we’re talking in milliseconds here!
“Bad” ping is normally anything from maybe 40ms and above. You’ll notice a difference when playing games, especially FPS ones where every millisecond counts. A VPN can be used to choose where your data is being transmitted from using the virtual server. As a result, this can reduce the ping and lead to faster connections when you game.
Some VPNs are designed for gaming too, meaning they use special technology to increase the connection speed between servers, lowering your ping even further. If you’re sick of missing shots or experiencing lag when playing with friends, a VPN could be a good move to consider.
Avoid Geo-restrictions
I would say most people download and use VPNs for gaming because they want to bypass geo-restrictions. This tends to fall across two categories:
- Accessing geo-restricted games or content
- Accessing geo-restricted servers
With the first option, you’re using a VPN to find and play games you can’t play in your location. This is highly common in igaming where British players look for non UK casinos to try lots of international games they don’t get at British casinos. It’s also a tactic used by gamers in countries that don’t get certain gaming releases. Either a game is banned in their country or it’s not going to be released for months. A VPN gives a little workaround so these gamers can play whatever games they want!
The second option refers to games like VALORANT or Overwatch where your default options are to connect to servers within a specific region. For instance, if you live in Europe, you’ll only have European servers in VALORANT. This means you can’t play with anyone in Asia or North/South America. Some gamers use a VPN to access these servers to play with different people. It’s handy if you have friends in different continents – or if certain regions are known to be more friendly than yours.
Get Around ISP Throttling
Some internet service providers will do something called “throttling”. It’s when they restrict your download speeds because you’re using a lot of data. They shouldn’t be allowed to do this, yet many manage to find legal loopholes to do so. Slow internet speeds aren’t that crucial when gaming online as it has more to do with ping – but it can stop you from downloading your favourite games.
Loads of binge-worthy games are clearing 100GB these days and they can take days to download when your internet speed is being throttled. A VPN stops throttling by shielding your IP address from your ISP, so they don’t have a clue what you’re doing.
They don’t see all the data being consumed to download a game, so they don’t throttle your connection. It’s a clever way of getting around these annoying tactics from ISPs and subscribing to a VPN service is far cheaper than taking out a new broadband contract with a higher data limit.
Stay Protected From Online Threats
Even when gaming, a VPN protects you from online threats. It’s genuinely more necessary here as online gamers can sometimes be the worst people on this planet. Get the better of someone online and the next thing you know they’ve DDosD you and revealed your IP address to the world.
That’s why lots of gamers like to use a VPN just to avoid situations like this. You never know who you encounter when gaming, so it’s better to be safe than sorry!
Should You Use A VPN When You Game?
This depends on a couple of key factors:
- How fast your internet speeds are
- If VPNs are legal where you live
If you have a pretty average or slow internet connection that lingers around the 20mb/s download mark, a VPN might not be good for you. Having an additional server to connect to might slow down your connection considerably, despite the fact this can help you avoid throttling. But, if your connection is anywhere above 50mb/s, you’ll have no speed issues and it’s a good shout.
Most importantly, you should check the regulations in your country to see if VPNs are allowed. It’s also worth checking a game’s terms of service before using a VPN as some will ban you if they find you’re using one. As long as everything is legally okay, then it could be worth trying a VPN and seeing if it improves your online gaming experience.