Why Do You Need a Free VPN for Gaming and How to Choose the Best One

Playing computer games used to be much more primitive several decades ago than it is today. The market has evolved, with new games appearing every day, and some people have turned their hobby into a career. In the era of online gaming, a VPN can significantly improve your gaming experience. This topic is constantly discussed in the gaming community, gathering both supporters and opponents. So let’s figure out what are the main reasons to use a free VPN for gaming.

Why Do You Need a Free VPN for Gaming?

 We have highlighted 3 main reasons why it is a good idea to consider a free VPN download for gaming.

1. Better security and protection from DDoS attacks.

By encrypting your traffic and hiding your IP address, a VPN significantly increases your security on the Internet generally and in online gaming particularly. The online gaming industry is highly profitable and highly competitive. As a result, it is one of the leaders in DDoS attack statistics.

If you play Call of Duty Warzone, you probably remember the attack on Activision Blizzard, the gaming market leader. If even such giants fall victim to DDoS attacks, what can we say about smaller players in the market?

Such attacks lead to the leakage of user data and, worst of all, often involve financial information. So if you want your data to be safe and ensure that an innocent game does not lead to a loss of funds, use a VPN every time you play.

Hiding the IP address is important, even ignoring the fact of DDoS attacks on the game providers. You usually play online with complete strangers on the other side of the screen and have no idea what their intentions are. Some players could take competition too seriously and go outside the game to get revenge on their opponents. One of those acts of revenge is doxxing, which means that your opponent determines your personal information based on your IP address and exposes it online.

Sharing your personal data can lead to targeted attacks on you, loss of your online identity, and even blackmail in real life. To avoid this, always hide your IP address, because it can be used to determine too much information about you. Don’t forget to install a VPN on your phone if you love playing mobile online games.

2. Increased speed.

This includes reduced ping times and help with bandwidth throttling.

Lags are most often experienced by users who are located far from the server. You can lose the battle simply because of high ping. To reduce the ping time, connect to the VPN and choose a server located closer to the game’s data centers.

Some internet service providers may limit your internet speed based on tracking your online activity. Gaming and streaming, which require downloading games and updates, use a lot of data. By tracking your activity, the ISP may limit your connection speed to avoid overloading the network or for other reasons. Either way, it can be critical for you and ruin your gaming experience. By hiding your IP address and encrypting your traffic, a VPN prevents your online activity from being tracked and therefore prevents speed throttling based on it.

3. Bypass geoblocking.

The ability to bypass geographical restrictions is important when you want to connect to a server in another country, access games that have not yet been released in your country, or play games that are blocked in some regions.

A lot of online games employ geoblocking technology to make sure you connect to the server in your area. However, if you stay in one area and wish to play with friends who live in another, this may be problematic.

Rarely are new games released simultaneously all around the world. You may have to wait longer to play than your friends in other countries.

Finally, some games are blocked in certain countries for many, sometimes ridiculous, reasons. For example, in China, games are blocked if they hurt China’s national dignity. It is difficult to understand what these words mean, but every country in the world has its own reasons for blocking certain computer games. 

For all of these issues, a VPN is an ideal solution. By hiding the user’s IP address and replacing it with a server address, it opens up the possibility of overcoming geographic restrictions. When connecting to the VPN, choose a server located in the country where the game has already been released/authorized or where the game server needed is located. VPN allows you to enjoy gaming without restrictions

How to Choose the Best VPN for Gaming

To choose a reliable VPN for gaming, you need to consider 2 main factors: the encryption protocol and the network of servers.

There are many encryption protocols, but none of them is perfect. For gaming, you need to choose a protocol that provides reliable protection without losing speed. The wrong protocol can slow down your internet speed and make gaming a nightmare.

IKEv2/IPSec is your go-to protocol when it comes to gaming. Being around for a long time it supports 256-bit encryption and is quick enough.

As for the server network, it’s simple: the more servers located in different parts of the world are integrated into the network of the selected VPN, the better. A wide network of servers will allow you to connect to any game and forget about geographical restrictions.

For a long time, there was a perception that there was no reliable free VPN, but this is not true. Reliable companies often have a high-quality free version, because it acts as a brand promo.

The free VPN uses the same encryption protocols as the paid ones. However, the available network of servers will be smaller than in the paid version. This may be enough for a beginner gamer, or when security is your main concern and access to geographically restricted content is secondary. When the free VPN server network is not enough for you, you can always upgrade to a paid one, but before you pay, you should try the free VPN.