Where can you use your game subscription? Console, PC, phone and TV explained

A subscription belongs to you, not to a screen

You pay for a game subscription once a month, so it is natural to think it should work anywhere you can see a game. Sometimes it does. Often it does not. A subscription is a right to play a catalogue. Whether you can use that right on a given device is a separate decision, and the company running the service makes it.

So before you buy, or before you buy a new TV or handheld because you want to use one, ask where the subscription actually works. The answer is different for each service, and it can change when the company updates its plans.

Three ways a game can reach your screen

Installed. The game downloads and runs on the device in front of you. The device does the work, so it has to be a platform the game was made for: an Xbox, a PlayStation, a Switch, or a Windows PC. This is the best picture quality and the most reliable option, because your internet only needs to cover the download.

Streamed from the cloud. The game runs on a company's computer far away and only video comes to you. Almost anything with a screen and a decent connection can show it, including a phone or a smart TV. The price is that you need a steady connection the whole time you play, and the picture is compressed.

Remote or companion. A device that is really a window on something else. It might show a console that sits switched on at home, or it might be an app that does a small job such as voice chat. It is not the full service in your pocket.

What the three big services say

Game Pass is the most flexible. Microsoft describes playing on Xbox consoles, on Windows PC through the Xbox app, and by cloud streaming to supported devices such as phones, Macs and smart TVs. PC handhelds such as the ROG Xbox Ally run the PC version. Which of these you get depends on your tier, so look at the tier list before you choose, not after.

PlayStation Plus is mainly a console service. On its own page Sony lists cloud streaming only in the top Premium tier, and only to a PS5 or a PlayStation Portal. A phone can reach your own PS5 through Remote Play, but that needs your console switched on at home and is not the subscription library streaming from a data centre.

Nintendo Switch Online is tied to your Nintendo Account, not to one console. Sign in on a Switch 2 or a Switch and the membership follows you, and a family membership covers everyone in the family group, up to eight people. The phone app is for things like voice chat and music, not for playing the games.

Streaming works at the edges, not in the middle

Notice the pattern. Installed games work on each company's own hardware, and streaming is how a service reaches the screens it has no hardware for. That is why streaming shows up on phones and smart TVs. It is also why cloud-ready usually means some games rather than the whole catalogue: a streamed game has to be set up on the company's servers first. A game can be on the list for your console and missing from the cloud list.

Streaming also has its own demands. Sony quotes a minimum of 5 Mbps for cloud streaming and 15 Mbps for 1080p. If your connection is shaky, or you play on Wi-Fi far from the router, an installed game on a console is a safer bet. Our guides on cloud gaming and internet speed go into that in detail.

What to check before you pay

Ask three questions, in this order. First: is this device on the service's own list? Look for your exact device, not just its type, since "smart TV" can mean a short list of supported models. Second: does it play installed or streamed? That tells you what internet you need. Third: does my tier include it? The same service can offer cloud play on one tier and not on another.

Finally, remember that a device which is not on the list today may be added later, and a device that is listed today may be dropped. If a subscription would only make sense on one particular screen, give it a trial month there first and make sure you can cancel in time.