Best VPN for Gaming in 2020

A virtual private network (VPN) is software that encrypts your web traffic and creates a secure connection between your device and the website you’re visiting, or the application you’re opening.

When you run a VPN, your internet connection is routed via a VPN server that assigns you an anonymous IP address. Your true IP location is therefore masked and not visible to websites or apps.

This means a VPN is ideal for gamers who want to access online games early by connecting to other countries. A VPN also provides an extra layer of protection against ISP connection throttling (for heavy gamers), or against DDoS attacks.

Keep reading to learn all the benefits of using a VPN while gaming online.

There are a number of issues associated with gaming online without a VPN. Below are the five main reasons for using a VPN when playing video games online:

1Protection against DDoS attacks

If you’re into competitive online gaming and e-sports, using a VPN can protect you against DDoS attacks by masking your true IP address. This makes it virtually impossible for wannabe hackers to cut off your internet connection and ruin your chances of winning.

2Bypassing IP bans

If your IP has been banned from a game, you’ll need a VPN to get a new IP address to bypass the IP ban.

3Beating Geo-restrictions

Many games, and in-game features, are geo-blocked. That means that you can’t access them depending on where you are. Using a VPN with worldwide servers, you can unlock these games, and access exclusives before they’re released in your country.

4Avoid ISP throttling

If your internet service provider (ISP) throttles your internet connection when you play online, a VPN can mask your traffic and prevent your ISP from slowing down your speed. That’s because your ISP can no longer see that you’re gaming online.

5Reducing latency

If you connect to gaming servers located far away from your physical location, ping time will increase and cause lag. Using a VPN allows you to experiment with connecting from different servers in order to reduce latency.

Sometimes, even your standard internet connection might suffer from increased latency. You may be able to reduce the lag by connecting to a nearby VPN server.

6Bypassing NAT Firewalls

If your Network has a strict NAT firewall you might struggle to maintain a P2P gaming connection. Some games and consoles – the Nintendo Switch for example – rely largely on P2P and won’t work online if you have strict NAT firewall.

A VPN routes your traffic past the firewall, and allows a P2P connection regardless of your router or network’s settings.

There are several ways to use a VPN with a gaming console, such as a PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo Switch. We recommend one of the These are the best methods for using a VPN on a gaming console:

1Using Smart DNS

By far the easiest way to run a VPN on a gaming console, like a PS4 or an Xbox One, is to use a VPN’s Smart DNS feature, if available. All you need to do is go into the DNS settings of your gaming console and update them with DNS credentials provided by your VPN service.

Many VPN providers don’t come with Smart DNS functionality so we recommend PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo users go with either ExpressVPN, NordVPN, CyberGhost or Surfshark, which all have a Smart DNS feature.

2Using a pre-configured router with VPN

Alternatively, you can connect your games console to a pre-configured, or pre-flashed, VPN router. Selected VPN providers sell pre-flashed routers either directly on their website or via authorized third-parties.

The VPN router will be almost completely set up on arrival. Once you’re in possession of the router, complete the VPN installation following the instructions supplied by your VPN provider.

3Configuring a router to use with VPN

The third option is to install a VPN on your home router yourself. It’s more complicated than buying a pre-flashed router, but it can be cheaper. However, you’ll need a router that has either been configured with an OpenVPN client, or which can be flashed with new firmware.

If you want to know more about methods #2 and #3, We’ve created entire guides dedicated to VPN routers and VPN router setup.

For a step-by-step tutorial on how to set up a VPN on PlayStation, read our in-depth guide to NordVPN and PS4.

When you’re gaming online, the last thing you want is lag. This is especially the case if you’re a competitive gamer.

In order to have a lag-free gaming experience while using a VPN, you need a service with low latency (also known as ping) and fast speeds. We’ve taken all this into account when we selected the best VPNs for gaming in November 2020.

Currently, the VPN services with the average lowest ping times according to our Speed Test Tool are Hotspot Shield and IPvanish with 1ms and 2ms repectively on a New York to New York connection.

Many of us want to protect ourselves when we are gaming. That’s sensible as you decrease the risk of DDoS attacks. More than that, you can prevent throttling from your ISP. 

However, bear in mind: when it comes to free VPNs, they present serious limitations to the gamer.

Free VPNs often feature minimal server lists and serious data caps. Worse than that, free VPNs often just don’t cut it when it comes to privacy and security. Some are actually more dangerous than not using one at all. 

Therefore, we highly recommend a paid VPN for the best online gaming experience. However, if you’ve never used a VPN before and want to try one first then see our guides to the best free VPNs, or alternatively our best VPN free trials.

Right now, the best free VPN for gaming is ProtonVPN, primarily because it’s the only trusted VPN that doesn’t have a monthly cap.

If you’re a PC gamer then we have good news. All five VPNs we recommend in this guide have native VPN clients for Windows PCs. What’s more, they all performed very well on our test Lenovo laptops.

Whether you’re playing Fortnite, World of Warcraft, League of Legends, or any other video game online, all the VPNs from our above list will 

ExpressVPN has the most user-friendly VPN for Windows, and is also our top choice VPN for gaming. We also have a guide for the overall best VPNs for Windows PCs that’s worth checking out if you spend a lot of time on your PC.

As with Windows, all of our VPN recommendations above have custom apps for macOS devices.

There are some Mac-exclusive games that you may enjoy playing like European War or Sky Gamblers. The Mac-friendly VPNs on our list are great options for those of you who enjoy these games.

ExpressVPN provides the simplest and most attractive VPN app for Mac, but Private Internet Access and CyberGhost are strong contenders too. 

You can easily use a top gaming VPN on your PlayStation, your Xbox, or your Nintendo Switch. As we listed above, there are several ways to set up a VPN on a games console.

All of the VPNs we recommend in this guide are compatible with either Smart DNS support or router installation. simply need to consider which of these VPNs is best for your needs before using it with your games console.

Because Smart DNS functionality is very important, we advise any games console gamer to use either ExpressVPN, NordVPN, CyberGhost or Surfshark.

China puts a lot of restrictions on the web. It’s unsurprising, therefore, that it doesn’t like the idea of Chinese gamers talking and communicating through online video games. 

A VPN bypasses geo-restrictions and undermines what’s called the Great Firewall of China – or the good ones do, at least. 

ExpressVPN is best at beating online censorship in China, which is also why it’s our choice of best VPN for China.

If you’re a gamer, you’ve heard of Fortnite. It’s a cultural phenomenon. Fortnite Battle Royale attracted 125 million players in its first 12 months and now has a steady 250 million players playing per year.

But Fortnite’s popularity has lead to some problems.

We undertook research that showed as many as 50% of unofficial Fortnite apps available are loaded with spyware, adware or malware. In other words, they are designed to monitor, track and spy. 

Fortnite has proven to be a privacy and security nightmare. 

It even suffered a data leak due to a login flaw and was a target of a data-stealing malware campaign.

Naturally, we think you should use a VPN when playing Fortnite. It adds layers of security and privacy otherwise not available. It protects you against malware and will go some way to protecting you against these scams, and we also strongly advise you only ever download the game from the official Fortnite website. 

More than this, Fortnite is susceptible to getting banned. It has been banned in China, Jordan and Iraq. Even in the UK, Prince Harry expressed his desire to see the game banned.  

To regain access to Fortnite within censored countries and protect yourself in case your country is next, we recommend ExpressVPN – a reliable service at bypassing censorship and keeping its users secure.

Steam is a platform buying, downloading and playing games on PC, Mac, and Linux. Some users wonder whether you can use a VPN with Steam.

This is because Steam has strict download limitations determined by geo-restrictions, just like movies and TV shows on Netflix.

Some users want a gaming VPN to access content otherwise restricted to them. It can also allows you to access content launched earlier in other countries. 

Many report no problems when using a VPN with Steam. The problem is using a VPN is against the Steam Subscriber Agreement – we’ve screenshot the relevant part here:

Using a VPN runs the risk of having your account terminated. We don’t recommend it, and if you do so then it’s at your own risk.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, popularly known as PUBG, is an almost equally popular online game. In Japan, it is the most popular video game in the country, while the majority of its market sales come from China.

When it comes to PUBG, a VPN is particularly useful. That’s because PUBG has been banned in some countries, including Iraq, Jordan and Nepal as well as parts of India and Indonesia. 

A VPN empowers you to play any online video game you want by bypassing any national or regional online censorship. ExpressVPN is the best VPN at circumventing online censorship, and it’s your best bet if you want a VPN that can work all over the world.

Overwatch is one of the most popular FPS (first-person shooter) video games, and many of our gamer visitors ask: is it worth getting a VPN to play Overwatch?

It’s not uncommon for internet service providers (ISPs) to throttle internet bandwidth when they detect overly extensive data usage. This causes a gamer grief by causing slower internet connections.

Luckily, a VPN can circumvent ISP throttling, since ISPs can’t see what a VPN user is doing online. That means that your ISP won’t know that you’re playing Overwatch online.

Like with all other online video games, ExpressVPN is the best VPN for Overwatch. It’s very fast across the 90 countries it covers, and it comes with outstanding security to protect against DDoS attacks, which is a real advantage for competitive gamers. 

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is a mobile battle arena game that’s particularly popular in Asia. It was the most-downloaded game on the iPhone in 2017 and there are even competitive tournaments held.

With competitive games when the stakes are high, the risk of DDoS attacks is increased. But not when you have a VPN, which helps protect against this. 

It’s important to note that a VPN is almost sure to increase your ping, sometimes called latency. This leads to lag, which can ruin any online game. 

A small increase isn’t a cause for concern, but just bear in mind that you want a gaming VPN to increase your ping as little as possible. 

In this case, we’d say the best VPN for a game like Mobile Legends is ExpressVPN – it has a low latency across global locations and very fast speeds. 

The mobile app is also very nice and comes with all the same features as the desktop version. ExpressVPN is the perfect VPN for Mobile Legends.

The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) is an online multiplayer game, originally released for PC and Mac followed by consoles a year later. It currently has 2.5 million monthly active players. 

Among those 2.5 million playing ESO, many want to access geo-restricted content. Mostly, though, they want to protect their privacy and secure themselves online. 

When you enter the fantasy world of Tamriel, you want to know that your information and privacy remains secure in the real world.

Many question whether the benefits of a VPN is worth it, considering the likelihood of an increasing ping score. However, ESO players report positive results when playing with a VPN, as you can see:

Some even report a decrease in ping from their usual average:

We recommend a VPN least likely to add to your ping when playing ESO, like ExpressVPN, IPVanish, or PrivateVPN. 

It has been reported that ESO have servers in Texas, Maryland, and Frankfurt. ExpressVPN has servers in or near all of these locations, making it ideally suited to use when playing ESO. 

It also happens to be our #1 VPN, featuring very fast speeds and reliable connections – great for gamers. 

We have seen at least one testimony suggest that CyberGhost is not a good VPN for ESO, so be cautious if you were interested in this VPN for this purpose. 

It’s definitely worth scrolling up and checking out our list to see which one best suits your Elder Scrolls needs.