VPN for gaming: ping, regions and when it actually helps

Gamers usually care about one number: ping. A VPN adds a stop on your data’s journey, so it rarely makes ping lower, but there are a few cases where it genuinely helps.

When a VPN can help

• Bad routing. Sometimes your internet provider sends game traffic on a long, congested route. A VPN server near the game server can take a better path.
• Blocked games or services. Some networks (schools, offices, some countries) block game servers or launchers. A VPN can get you through.
• Protection from targeted attacks. In competitive games, people sometimes try to overload an opponent’s connection. With a VPN, they only see the VPN server’s IP address.

When it won’t help

• Your Wi-Fi is weak. Move closer to the router or use mobile data.
• The game server is far away. A VPN can’t shorten the distance to the game server.
• The VPN server is busy or far. That just adds lag.

Choosing a server for games

1. Find out where your game’s server is (often shown in game settings).
2. Pick a VPN country close to that server, not necessarily close to you.
3. Compare ping in-game with the VPN on and off.

Regions and terms of service

Some games have different content, prices or events in different regions. Using a VPN to access another region may be against a game’s terms and could get an account restricted. Read the rules for your game first. We don’t recommend using a VPN to break any service’s terms.

The bottom line

For most phone games, play without a VPN if your ping is fine. Turn one on when your network blocks the game, when routing is clearly bad, or when you want to keep your IP address private from other players.

Berry VPN is our own app.