Gaming Service 'Shadow' Can Power High End Games On Your Budget PC, Android, iOS

If you’re the among the people who can’t buy powerful GPUs due to soaring prices (thanks to crypto coin miners), the days are about to go away. Blade, a company based out of France, has announced their gaming service called Shadow.

Unlike services like EA Access that utilize the horsepower of your gaming console, it’s similar to Nvidia’s GeForce Now and Google’s rumored cloud-based game streaming service. Shadow doesn’t require any heavy-duty hardware to run demanding games because all the processing happens on their cloud servers featuring powerful hardware. It’s like a personal gaming PC that’s available anywhere and anytime, all you need is an internet connection.

Shadow’s cloud machines are full-fledged Windows 10 PCs running 8-thread Intel Xeon server chips equivalent to Core i7 CPUs, along with 12GB of DDR4 RAM and 256GB SSD storage. A high-end Nvidia chip handles the graphics department.

Depending on their proprietary technology, the game streaming service claims to deliver a near-zero latency while streaming games on devices. It requires a minimum connection speed of 15 Mbps, which doesn’t seem to be a big deal nowadays.

Shadow is compatible with virtually any internet-connected device running Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS (support coming soon). It can also pump 4K gaming titles if the user’s devices have capable hardware and display.

Shadow had a presence at this year’s CES, where its maker Blade demoed full PC games running on the Razor phone. But the service is not limited to gaming. It mirrors an entire Windows 10 on your device, so can you run resource-intensive applications like Photoshop as well.

Users can opt for the cloud-based game streaming services with three subscription plans ranging from $35/mo (one-year commitment) to $50/mo (no commitment).

Some users won’t call it cheap, but it frees them from building high-end gaming rigs that require a heavy load of their hard-earned money. The service doesn’t charge for any hardware upgrades made to their cloud machines and provides a 1Gbps connection for downloads.

Blade is also working on an AMD-powered streaming device (with ports for connecting a monitor and other peripherals) for users who prefer separate gaming devices instead playing games on computers and smartphones. The service is already available in France and UK. Now, it’s making its way into the US, starting with California. It would be expanded to other regions in the country in coming months.

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