It's no shocker that PC gaming has gotten a lot more expensive over the past few months. What began as a RAM crisis due to an uptick in people purchasing memory for AI purposes has caused a Domino effect that has raised the price of PC building, premade gaming rigs, and consoles. We saw prices begin to crawl up across the board, but the straw that broke the camel's back for me was the news that the Steam Deck's price was increasing from $549 to $789.

Until prices calm down, I can't really justify shelling out on gaming hardware anymore. Fortunately, I've been big on cloud gaming for a while now, and here's why it's my perfect out for the current cost crisis.

Cloud gaming is a lot cheaper to get into than buying a PC

Although you don't have to be cheap

The most obvious reason why I'm leaning more toward cloud gaming these days is the cost. If you see a brand new game that you really want to play, but your PC doesn't have the chops to play it, you're looking at a comparison between purchasing thousands of dollars of hardware versus a monthly subscription to a cloud gaming service. And while renting hardware doesn't feel as good as owning it, it does drop finances as the main barrier of entry.

However, just because it's the cheaper option doesn't mean it has to be cheap. Both GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming will set you back around $20 every month to use their cloud services at their highest tier, with each having its own perks. However, you are limited to playing games that each service supports.

Meanwhile, there are services like Shadow PC. Shadow asks for $30 a month for the Neo tier, but in exchange for the higher price, you get a full PC to play with. No restrictions on games, no titles 'leaving the service'; it's essentially a gaming PC that you're given free rein over. If you can install it on a regular PC, you can install it on your Shadow one, and I've used mine to do other intensive tasks like 3D rendering and video editing.

Cloud gaming can run on anything, anywhere

It's a nice perk to have

Of course, cloud gaming is more than just a cheaper way to get into the PC gaming scene. Cloud gaming software can run on pretty weak hardware, meaning you can turn basically any device you have around the home into a gaming center. Grab an old PC you have sitting around, throw it on a dated handheld, or even use your phone or tablet. Then, hook your device up to the internet via WiFi, Ethernet, or 5G, and you're good to game.

I've personally enjoyed this perk while I'm on the go. I don't need to pack a gaming PC if I want something to play while I'm chilling in the hotel room; instead, I can throw my work laptop into my bag, then boot up my cloud services on it when I arrive. I have all the benefits of playing triple-A games on hardware that would probably melt if it tried doing the same thing locally.

If something breaks on the cloud PC, you're fine

No worrying about extra costs

The price hikes don't just affect people trying to get into PC gaming. I've also heard plenty of lamentations where people discover that their SSD is dying, or their RAM is giving up the ghost, or their GPU isn't as powerful as it once was. The thought of having to shell out to replace an outdated or broken piece of hardware is enough to send shivers up anyone's spine in this climate.

Fortunately, cloud gaming removes that fear for me. If I'm playing a game on the cloud and the GPU blows up in a purely accidental manner, I'm not on the hook for it. I don't have to worry about replacing the hardware, because it's not my hardware to replace. That level of peace of mind means I can upgrade to the really beefy cloud PCs without worrying about the very pricey GPU within them causing me financial grief further down the line.

Of course, I do have a PC on which I connect to Shadow, which, in theory, can also break. However, because I don't need super powerful specs to run cloud streaming software, I don't need to shell out thousands to get my gaming PC back. In fact, I've lately been eyeing the mini PC market, simply because I don't need a dedicated full-size GPU to render my games over the cloud.

Cloud gaming is not the perfect solution, but it's mine

Am I happy about essentially renting someone else's gaming PC? Not really. Cloud gaming does involve giving up some freedoms, and you don't have anything to show for your subscription if it expires. But when faced with navigating this bleak world of PC hardware, it's honestly the best I've got to keep my head above water.