PlayStation Plus Game Streaming vs Xbox xCloud: Image Quality/Lag Face-Off

Sony has added cloud streaming to the top-tier offering of its PlayStation Plus subscription service, so just how good or bad is it? Tom Morgan analyses the Sony offering, then pivots to Microsoft’s Project xCloud, a part of its Game Pass Ultimate offering. How do the two systems compare in terms of game availability, image quality and latency? And just what are you getting with xCloud: Series X gaming or Series S? The answers are surprising. Subscribe for more Digital Foundry: Join the DF Patreon to support the team more directly and to get access to everything we do via pristine quality downloads: Want some DF-branded tee-shirts, mugs, hoodies and more? Check out our store: For commercial enquiries, please contact business@ 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:40 How PS Streaming Works 00:03:17 PS5 Install vs PS Cloud Image Quality Compared 00:06:32 PS vs xCloud Image Quality Compared 00:07:58 Frame-Rate Tested (A Plague Tale Requiem) 00:11:50 Frame-Rate Tested (Resident Evil 2 Remake) 00:14:47 Latency Tests 00:17:13 Round-up/Verdict Cloud thumbnail image derived from ’Above the Clouds’ by Arun Kulshreshtha. It has been colour graded, cropped and logos overlaid. Image license here: