PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming vs Ploud

PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming lets eligible members stream select PS5 games instead of downloading them. Games are drawn from catalogs, digital libraries and select free-to-play titles; cloud saves are stored automatically, and Premium membership includes Game Trials. Streaming requires PlayStation Plus Premium, listed at $19.99 a month, with recurring billing until cancelled. A free-to-play title may be streamable, but the listed facts do not describe a free PlayStation Plus plan. Supported devices include PS5, PlayStation Portal, PS4 and Windows PC, though cloud streaming is identified as available on PS5 and Portal. Portal use requires owning a Portal Remote Player and is limited to select PS5 games, not PS4 or PS3. Listed resolutions range from 720p to 2160p; Premium supports up to 4K, HDR at 60Hz and PS5 audio outputs. Starting a session requires broadband with at least 5 Mbps upload and download. A PlayStation account is required, and child accounts are not eligible.

Ploud rents dedicated physical PlayStation 5 consoles hosted in France for playing games customers already own through their PlayStation Network accounts. It does not provide games. Each customer keeps the same assigned console between sessions and has 200 GB of reserved storage retained between sessions. The stream is specified at 1080p, 60 fps and HDR10, with latency of 60 to 100 ms. Ploud requires a 25 Mbit/s download connection and recommends 40 Mbit/s; its browser eligibility test measures round-trip time, jitter and download speed. On macOS 13 or later, Safari or Chrome can connect, and Windows 10 or 11 users can use Chrome or Edge without installing software. Google TV and Android TV 10+ connect using the free Moonlight app from the Play Store. DualSense controllers work by Bluetooth or USB, and other controllers are supported when recognized by the browser or device. Ploud says its WebRTC transport is encrypted with DTLS-SRTP. The service has not opened yet; launch is planned by invitation to people on the waiting list.