Why it matters here
Competitive lobbies leak IPs, and swatting and denial-of-service attacks follow. Some ISPs also throttle game traffic at peak hours, which a VPN can route around. The trade-off is latency: every extra millisecond comes from the distance to the server and the efficiency of the protocol, which is why the fastest protocol on the nearest server wins.
What to look for
- WireGuard or an equally modern protocol
- Servers physically near you
- Split tunnelling so only the game routes through
- No bandwidth caps or throttling
- Router support, for consoles
One thing people get wrong
Consoles cannot run VPN apps. Either share a protected connection from your PC or run the VPN on your router — check the provider supports your router firmware before you buy.
