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Nowadays, VPNs have become absolutely crucial for online gamers. With growing DDoS attacks, high pings, bandwidth throttling geo-restrictions, accessing certain games or servers is near impossible without spoofing your location through a VPN for gaming.

In order to make your life a whole lot easier and help you play online games without interruptions, I’ve come up with an awesome list of best gaming VPNs that I’ve personally tested for Fortnite, PuBG, Blade & Soul and even Tibia.

Best VPN for Gaming – Quick Overview

PureVPN – Budget-friendly option with Port Forwarding for Online Gamers. Surfshark – Cheapest VPN in the industry. Prevent DDoS and other malicious attacks. NordVPN – 5000+ servers and built-in DDoS protection for an ultimate gaming experience. ExpressVPN – Blazing fast speeds for lag-free gaming. Offers over 3000 blazing fast servers. CyberGhost – Decently fast. It offers 5500+ servers with low pings and 7 simultaneous connections Ivacy – Secure gaming VPN that offers stable connections and secure VPN server locations.

PureVPN is the recommended VPN keeping in mind the low latencies, fast speeds, DDoS protection and unblocking capabilities of geo-restricted games and servers.

Check out our video guide for best gaming VPNs if you don’t want to go through the whole blog..

6 Best VPNs for Online Gaming in 2020

Without further ado, here are the 6 best VPN services for gaming in 2020..

1. PureVPN – Best For Gaming

Thanks to PureVPN’s affordable DDoS protection, it is probably the best VPN you can use. In fact, PureVPN offers DDoS protection directly on the IP level instead of server level like most other VPNs.

Moreover, PureVPN offers fast speed and reduced pings which are best-suited for online gaming. In fact, after connecting to a US server and comparing pings, I managed to reduce my pings from 206 milliseconds to just 58 milliseconds.

PureVPN provides 2000+ servers in 140+ countries so online gamers can join any global tournament. It also offers Port Forwarding which is necessary for online gamers whether they use PCs or consoles.

As far as speeds are concerned, PureVPN offers blazing fast speeds and prevents ISP throttling. In terms of performance, PureVPN comes built-in with powerful encryption, OpenVPN and 256-AES, for an ultimate gaming experience. With only $2.91/month, PureVPN is truly the best low cost VPN service.

Even more impressively, PureVPN offers dedicated IP addresses for lag-free gaming and supports mobile (Android iOS), router, Linux, Windows macOS, and even browser. For a more in-depth look at PureVPN, makes sure you check out the PureVPN review.

2. Surfshark – Affordable Gaming VPN

If you’re looking for a VPN with the highest speed, Surfshark is the perfect choice for you. A newcomer to the industry, Surfshark delivers a lag-free gaming experience that would even put top providers to shame.

Right of the bat, 1000+ VPN servers in 60+ countries are the heart and soul of Surfshark’s performance. With an average speed of around 81 Mbps and 48 ms pings on my 100 Mbps internet connection, playing games has never been better. Here’s a screenshot of pings with and without Surfshark:

Although you don’t get a separate DDoS protection feature with Surfshark, thanks to powerful encryption and secure protocols, Surfshark can easily protect you from frustrated gamers and snoops alike.

But perhaps the most eye-catching thing about Surfshark is its price. With an 81% Offdiscount, you can get Surfshark for $2.49/mo. To be honest, in this price point, Surfshark is perhaps one of the top VPN for gaming you can opt for today. To learn more about this service provider and its 30-day money-back guarantee, check out our in-depth review of Surfshark.

3. NordVPN – Thousands Of Gaming Servers

Another cool service you can choose is NordVPN. Known as a behemoth in the industry, NordVPN is not only good playing games but also for streaming and privacy thanks to features like Port Forwarding.

NordVPN is one VPN provider that offers servers in pretty much every part of the world. In fact, no other provider in its class offers such an extensive server park. At present, you can select their 5000+ optimized servers in 59 countries worldwide.

Another notable feature that NordVPN offers is its double encryption. That said, While a double encryption system might offer impenetrable security, gamers might find the connection speed to be rather slow at times. NordVPN even offers built-in DDoS protection specifically geared towards gamers.

When it comes to actual speeds, NordVPN is not the greatest. I managed to get about 65 Mbps download and 78 ms pings on average. I’ve extensively covered speeds of NordVPN in my NordVPN review. Perhaps you might find it useful.

Lastly, NordVPN’s subscription plan prices are very reasonable and designed to cater to every user’s needs. At its cheapest, NordVPN will only cost you $3.71/mo and also include a 30-day money-back guarantee.

4. ExpressVPN – Fastest Gaming VPN

Just like its name, ExpressVPN is one of the fastest VPN providers in the industry. This makes gaming on VPN a seamless experience. ExpressVPN offers around 3,000+ servers in 94 countries. Thanks to an awesome network of servers, ExpressVPN managed to deliver 80+ Mbps download speeds on my 100 Mbps connection. Not only that, but ExpressVPN also significantly reduced my pings from 208 ms to 66 ms.

Gaming with ExpressVPN is absolute bliss as it offers easy configuration for routers and no lags no stutters what so ever. In addition to snappy performance, the built-in 256-bit encryption is designed to offer powerful protection. Thus, ExpressVPN gaming experience is amazing.

All this performance does come at a cost. ExpressVPN is not by any means cheap. That said, for a very limited time, you can get ExpressVPN at a 35% off discounted price of $6.67/mo. Curious to know more about ExpressVPN gaming, check out our exclusive review of ExpressVPN.

5. CyberGhost – Decently Specced Gaming VPN

Last up on my list, we have CyberGhost. This provider falls in the sweet spot between NordVPN and ExpressVPN. CyberGhost is a trusted VPN provider that uses bank-grade encryption protocols to secure your gaming devices such as Xbox, PlayStation, or PC. It is an easy-to-use VPN with specifically-designed apps for various platforms. Console gamers can buy a pre-configured VPN router rather to protect their online identity

With 5500+ servers alone in 90 countries, CyberGhost towers most small providers. But it’s not all about numbers, speed also matters a lot. Thankfully, CyberGhost offers punchy performance and excellent Ping reduction. There’s hardly any lag and it rarely ever abruptly disconnects, which is perfect for playing action-packed games.

As far as privacy and security features are concerned, you do get powerful encryption, kill switch and excellent app compatibility across most mainstream platforms. But that’s not all, there are tons of other amazing features that CyberGhost offers for just $2.75/mo, which is covered in our CyberGhost review.

6. Ivacy – Secure Gaming VPN

If you haven’t heard of Ivacy yet, you’re seriously missing out. This is the only VPN service that has partnered up GamersOrigin’s to offer zero bandwidth throttling and powerful DDoS protection for online gamers.

Not only that, but Ivacy also offers over 1000 servers in 100+ locations worldwide to help you unblock any gaming title of your choice. Aside from offering excellent unblocking capabilities, Ivacy is also extremely efficient at reducing pings. With Ivacy connected to a US server, I managed to get reduce my pings from 216 ms to 75 ms.

In terms of speeds, Ivacy is quite nimble, and I managed to achieve around 75+ Mbps download speeds with my 100 Mbps connection. Besides offering top-notch performance, Ivacy is quite affordable only cost $2.25/mo. For more information about Ivacy, read out in-depth review.

Why Do Gamers Need a VPN?

There are many reasons why gamers must use a VPN on their devices. Some of them are mentioned below:

Boosting Internet Speed

As most internet service providers (ISPs) can intercept and throttle your internet speeds, using a VPN is the best way to avoid ISP throttling. VPN uses encryption protocols and overcomes ISP throttling to make sure you feel no trouble during online gaming.

Buying Region-Specific Games

Even if you can purchase several online games, some popular games are geo-restricted and are not available to everyone. Sometimes the game prices are higher according to your country. This is where a VPN can provide help. It can hide your actual geolocation and allow you to buy DLC packs or any region-specific games.

Lifting a Ban

There is no secret than some online gamers cheat during online gaming to win free points or upgrade levels, and eventually face a ban. Game owners can ban your IP address so you cannot play again. But you can use a VPN to connect to a different IP address and play your favorite games once again.

Preventing DDoS Attacks

Pro gamers are on the verge of DDoS attacks especially when they are playing a gaming tournament with cash prizes. Some gamers try to cheat their way to the top by launching DDoS attacks on other competitive players. To avoid that, use a VPN that offers DDoS protection to help you play online games safely.

Enhancing Protection

There are more chances of an IP address leak when you are playing multi-player games. Sometimes your internet connection is not secure that hackers can intercept and use it to their benefit. By using a VPN, online gamers can quickly encrypt their device data and prevent any kind of leaks.

If you wish, check out our best VPN for steam in 2020 roundup as well.

How To Choose the best VPN for online gaming?

You do need to keep some important factors in mind before subscribing to any VPN. Here is the list of different factors that you should consider:

Low Pings

Compatible with all major platforms including Routers / Console

Security & Protocols

DDoS Protection

Port Forwarding

Availability Of Servers

Performance

Ease Of Use

Pricing

How to Unblock Region Restricted Games through a VPN

Here’s how you can quickly use a virtual private network to play region restricted games online:

Select and purchase a VPN service of your choice Download and install the app on routers or on to your device Log in to the app using your credentials Connect to servers from countries where the games you want to access are blocked Finally, download or play your favorite games online without restrictions & throttling

Tips for Reducing Ping

Gamers understand how frustrating slow internet can be even if there is a slight difference in 4-5ms ping. There are many popular games that Gamers can’t play without a lower ping. This is the reason why you must always look for reducing ping to enjoy online gaming to the fullest.

Your PC’s antivirus and firewall can create a sudden delay in latency speed as these security features collect packets from any game server. That’s why you must white-list all the online games in your PC to prevent packet loss and lower ping.

Always use the right graphic card, processor, and RAM that can handle the advanced game settings because it reflects the frame-rates. To do that, you must carefully optimize the game settings according to your PC configuration.

Connect your PC with Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi to lower ping as well as latency and packet loss. As most of the household devices use in-home Wi-Fi, using Ethernet directly can be the best choice for gaming seamlessly.

Make sure you are not running any background programs such as Twitch or Netflix which can intercept your bandwidth speed. Also, automatic updates can take a toll on the internet speed and suffocate the framerate while you are gaming.

Lower the number of connected devices from the main router because it cannot handle huge traffic and hog your online gaming speed. Even if you cannot disconnect all the devices, try to reduce the numbers as much as you can to reduce ping.

Best VPN For Gaming on Reddit

Although I’ve personally tested out the above-mentioned gaming VPNs, I still wanted to see what the Reddit community had to suggest. Surprisingly, the majority of Reddit users either suggested NordVPN or ExpressVPN for gaming. Here’s one Reddit user suggesting to use NordVPN as it offers the most servers at the moment which is great for competitive gaming.

Another Reddit user suggested using VPNs only if your ISP is known to throttle speeds on certain gaming consoles and services.

Read more VPN reviews by Reddit users.

FAQs

So now that you know why and which gaming VPNs you should use, let’s go through some of the most frequently asked questions about gaming VPNs.

Are VPNs good for gaming? Yes, VPNs are actually quite good for gaming. In fact, a VPN can help you achieve better pings (in some cases), fast speeds, protection against DDoS and also provide you access to geo-restricted games from around the world. Does VPN reduce ping? Yes, a VPN can help you reduce pings if you’re experiencing packet loss from your ISP’s endpoint or if your packets are beings transferred through multiple hops. Does VPN slow down gaming? Yes, a VPN will slow down your gaming speeds. However, the actual percentage of speed fluctuations is subjective and depends upon numerous factors. You can get better speeds by connecting to a VPN server that’s closer to your actual geographical location. Does FPS affect Ping? No, your ping should not affect your FPS directly, but you can mess around with FPS that can have an impact on your pings. For instance, if you want to mess around, you can drop your FPS below a specific threshold and spike your pings significantly.

Final Thoughts

For me, PureVPN worked great. But you can choose whichever you like from the above list of 5 best VPNs for Gaming.

Because, to enjoy online gaming to the fullest, you need to use a VPN . Opting for the best gaming VPNs will help you avoid ISP throttling, attain lower pings, avoid DDoS attacks and unblock geo-restricted games from anywhere in the world.

If you’re looking for a VPN for generic use like streaming and overall protection, I suggest you check out our list of best VPNs.