Sora Stream vs Tencent START

Sora Stream is a cloud gaming service that streams games without downloads or a console. Its advertised catalog contains 500+ games across adventure, sports, strategy, puzzle and retro categories. Standard includes those catalog games, up to four profiles, 60 FPS / Full HD and cancellation anytime. Pro includes the full catalog plus selected AAA games previously purchased from other stores and discounts on AAA games. The service advertises unlimited sessions, a maximum streaming resolution of 1080p and play through Android, iOS, Windows, macOS and browsers, with use described on mobile, tablet, PC and TV. An internet connection is required. A 24-hour trial is available without a card or commitment, and the sign-up page says availability is limited to Europe. Standard is listed at $4.99 a month, billed 4.99€ monthly. Pro is $7.99 a month, billed 7.99€, with no billing interval stated on the page. Certain third-party games use a Bring Your Own License model, and Steam or Epic Games Store credentials may be needed to verify ownership. Some games are rated 18+ and may contain sensitive content.

Tencent START streams games rendered on cloud servers to supported devices, so players can start supported titles without downloading them. The app listing says progress can continue across devices when players log in with the same account. Its library includes online, single-player, and independent games, organized with personalized categories and recommendations. Listed devices include iPhone, iPad, mobile devices, tablets, computers, and TVs; the iPhone app requires iOS 14.0 or later. Tencent describes START ENGINE as supporting real-time biological and dense plant rendering, dynamic tree simulation, and GPU-accelerated fluid simulation. Tencent Cloud says streaming uses Tencent-RTC and Tencent Mingmou encoding technology, and documents JavaScript, Android, and iOS SDKs and APIs. Its Game Streaming product is a PaaS solution for PC and mobile games, with functions migrated to application cloud rendering. Each concurrent cloud gaming instance supports one player at a time. A free plan is listed, and named paid options include a STARTvip student monthly card at 28 CNY a month, an eight-hour package at 28 CNY, paid once, and a VIP monthly card at 29 CNY a month. Other listed plans have no prices shown.