Today, online gaming is more popular than ever. Do you like playing Fortnite on your smartphone? Or maybe you like racing or strategy games? That really doesn’t matter. What’s relevant is that you use a VPN while you’re gaming, so you could protect your online privacy as well as your security. There are a lot of benefits when using a VPN while you’re gaming, but there are downsides as well. Besides this, we will also present you with the best VPNs for gaming, and much more fascinating information.

1. What is a VPN?

VPN is short for Virtual Private Network. A VPN will connect the device you’re currently using to an online server, allowing you to surf the Internet with the help of the online server’s connection. Very often, that server is based in another country or region, so the VPN will hide your true location, and it will appear like you're living in another country. Also, with a VPN, you'll get access to many things on the Internet that were unavailable to you before.

By using a VPN, you will protect your online privacy, and you’ll have online anonymity as well.

2. Why do you need a VPN provider for gaming?

There are a couple of reasons why it would be best that you use a VPN service when you’re gaming. You will see the various perks, below.

a.) Protection against online stalkers

This happens on rare occasions, but there were some cases where players began to stalk other players because they were frustrated with how the other gamers were playing. This mostly happened in multiplayer games. There were players who found the IP address of another player and hacked their social media accounts. So, if you use a VPN, it will hide your real IP address, and angry gamers will not be able to harm your online privacy.

b.) Protection against DDOS attacks

A DDOS attack is short for distributed denial-of-service. This attack happens when a certain person sends you a large amount of requests from a device that has been compromised to another device, so it could force it to go offline. The result of this attack is that a player gets locked out of the game, and the player who made the attack will get past the competition much faster. Almost every VPN provider on the market has protection against these DDOS attacks. VPNs can handle large amounts of requests in a short time, which can result in protecting the players against these attacks and the players who tend to cheat.

c.) IP ban workaround

When you play games online, there's a big chance that you get a ban because you don’t behave properly or because you use cheats. But, how can someone know that you’ve been cheating? You can get a ban because someone found out your real IP address and then that someone blocked it. So, if your true IP address is somehow banned, the only way to hide your IP address is to use the services of a VPN provider. A lot of gamers across the globe use VPNs so they could bypass IP bans.

d.) You can stay safe while using public Wi-fi

If you’re a fan of online games, there was certainly a time when you connected to a public Wi-fi in order to enjoy your favorite game. Public Wi-fi is available in many public places like cafes, diners, airports, and so on. Thanks to this free connection, you can connect your device to your online game. But, you should know that using public Wi-if is very risky, and your online privacy could be easily invaded. This Wi-fi connection is using a network that has no encryption, which means your data could be intercepted by a hacker.

Cybercriminals often use devices with which they could monitor your online activity, and see everything you do on the Internet. They could easily get ahold of your banking or social media accounts, and use it for criminal purposes. But, if you’re using a VPN connection while gaming, you should have no worries that you’ll be a victim of a cyber-attack.

e.) No more bandwidth throttling

Today, there are a lot of Internet service providers that are slowing down bandwidth. They will throttle it at a certain time of the day, or they’ll slow it down when the network is overloaded. Also, some ISPs will throttle bandwidth when they detect certain online traffic, like gaming, for instance. They can also limit the amount of data you're using per hour. Throttling can depend on many factors like the name of the game, the type of the game, and so on. 

If you use a VPN, it will encrypt your data, and the Internet Service Provider will not be able to throttle your data.

f.) Access geo-restricted content

Because of the local laws, there are games that are blocked in specific regions and countries. In most cases, those games are blocked because of explicit content. If you want to play a game that is blocked in your region, it is highly recommended that you use a VPN so you can get access to that online game. You can be certain that this will work, because the VPN service will mask your real IP address, and you will get another one from the VPN server that you’re connected to.

There are games that cost more money in some regions but are much cheaper in others. So, by using a VPN, you can pretend like you're living in the region where the game will be released faster and where it will cost less money.

3. Downsides of using a VPN service when gaming

Here a couple of downsides when it comes to using VPNs for online gaming.

In some countries, it’s not legal

Although a lot of countries across the globe allow the usage of VPN, there are still countries that ban them. Countries like China, Russia, Turkey banned the use of VPNs. There are also countries that do not allow personal use of VPNs, and they only allow large organizations and businesses to use it. So, before you think about using a VPN, first check out if it’s even legal to use it in your country.

Data Logging

There are VPNs that will not protect your online privacy like some others. Some VPNs can log your Internet traffic and IP address, and then sell it to some third-party companies. By doing that, those VPNs can seriously endanger your privacy, so you should definitely choose a VPN that has a no-logs policy that will protect your online security and privacy as well.

4. Best VPNs for gaming

Below, you will see the very best VPNs you can choose for gaming:

a.) NordVPN

If you’re looking for a high-quality VPN for gaming, then NordVPN would be the right choice, no doubt. It has great connection speeds, it is very easy to use, and has the most modern security features that a VPN can have. NordVPN was founded in Panama in 2008. It’s on the market for more than a decade, and it’s known as one of the most reliable and secure VPNs. It has over 5300 servers in sixty countries across the globe. It is available on many apps like Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, and so on. The customer support is at your disposal 24/7, so you can contact them anytime you like. It has a Double VPN feature. With this feature, your data will go through two servers, doubling the power of encryption.

b.) ExpressVPN

Anyone who heard about VPNs knows about ExpressVPN. This VPN is surely the most famous of all VPNs. It’s great for many things, and for gaming as well. It has the fastest servers, over 3000 in approximately 94 countries around the world. When it comes to security, you don’t have to worry because you’ll be secured with the best encryption protocols like OpenVPN, L2TP/IPSec, and so on. It also has a split tunneling feature and a kill switch that will “kill” your Internet connection whenever your VPN connection drops. If you like to watch shows and movies on streaming services, we have good news for you. This VPN unblocks geo-restricted content, giving you full access to streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO GO, too.

c.) CyberGhost

This is a VPN service that was founded in Romania, a country that is known to be privacy-friendly. CyberGhost has a no-logs policy, so you don’t have to raise any concerns when it comes to your privacy because this VPN provider will not store your connection logs, IP address, or anything you do on the Internet. It has a pretty wide range of over 6000 servers in about 89 countries across the globe. It has a split tunneling feature that will help you to find the latest cheat codes for the games you play online. This VPN is available on numerous apps. You can use it on operating systems such as Windows, Android, iOS, macOS, and so on. This VPN also has a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can first try it out, and then decide to pay for a subscription.

Conclusion

When you’re playing games online, you must use the services of a VPN if you want to protect your online security and privacy. Choose one of the three VPNs we reviewed for you, so you can play online games with no worries.