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Norton 360 for Gamers Review (2026): Is it the right choice?
By Tibor Moes / Updated: November 2025
Norton 360 for Gamers Review 2026
Norton 360 for Gamers is the ideal antivirus for casual and pro gamers. It has perfect anti-malware protection, no impact on the speed of your PC, all the security features you need, and an excellent price.
Buy it if you want complete protection for up to 3 Windows PCs. You will get anti-malware, anti-phishing, a firewall, a password manager, and an unlimited VPN, which will protect your privacy online.
On top of that, Norton 360 for Gamers includes a Game Optimizer. It automatically detects when you’re gaming and lowers resource-intensive programs. This minimizes slowdowns and improves your FPS.
- Malware protection: 100%. Norton detected and removed each of the 1,200 malware samples in our test.
- Speed impact: 100%. Norton’s anti-malware engine is lightweight and did not slow down our test PC.
- Features: 100%. Norton 360 for Gamers includes anti-malware, anti-phishing, firewall, VPN, password manager, and more.
- Price: 100%. Few other antivirus brands have a Game Optimizer. So Norton 360 for Gamers offers unique value.
Thanks to the 60-day return policy, you can try it risk-free.
| Ranking | #1 of 28 🥇 |
| Anti-malware | ✅ |
| Anti-phishing | ✅ |
| Firewall | ✅ |
| Password Manager | ✅ |
| Unlimited VPN | ✅ |
| Operating systems | Windows |
| 🔥 Discount | Save 60% on Norton 🔥 |
Full Review
Norton is ranked #1 of the 28 best antivirus of 2026.
Norton 360 offers robust security features that stand out from competitors. Even the basic plan, Norton Antivirus Plus, includes an advanced anti-malware engine, firewall, anti-phishing tools, password manager, 2 GB of cloud storage, and a 100% Virus Protection Promise, ensuring a refund if a virus can’t be removed.
Upgrading to Norton 360 Deluxe adds parental controls with School Time, a no-limit VPN, dark web monitoring, webcam protection, a privacy monitor, and 50 GB of cloud storage. Norton 360 for Gamers is nearly identical to Deluxe, but includes the Game Optimizer, which automatically detects when you’re gaming and lowers resource-intensive programs.
All of Norton’s plans come with a 60-day money-back guarantee.
Anti-malware
Norton’s anti-malware engine delivers flawless protection with a 100% detection rate across nearly 1,200 diverse malware samples, including ransomware, spyware, and rootkits. It leverages a massive threat database, heuristic analysis, and advanced machine learning to identify known and emerging threats. Real-time protection effectively blocks malware in plain, zipped, and encrypted forms before they can infect the system.
Full disk scans are notably fast, completing in under 15 minutes on large drives and under 9 minutes on SSDs, outperforming competitors. Users can schedule scans, exclude directories, or choose among Smart, Quick, Full, Targeted, Startup, Explorer, and Custom scans for flexibility. Smart Scan also checks Wi-Fi, junk files, and registry performance, making it a multi-purpose diagnostic tool.
The engine remains lightweight, ensuring that protection runs silently without interrupting tasks or full-screen applications. Overall, Norton’s malware defense achieves unmatched precision and speed, combining detection excellence with usability.
Anti-phishing
Norton’s Safe Web and Safe Search modules provide comprehensive defense against phishing and unsafe websites. Safe Web integrates an Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) that protects financial and personal data during online transactions, blocking nearly all phishing attempts missed by browsers like Chrome.
The Safe Web dashboard offers detailed site safety analysis, including community ratings and threat breakdowns. Users can also manually check any website’s safety even without a Norton subscription. Browser extensions are available across major platforms, enhancing both desktop and mobile browsing.
Safe Search augments results with color-coded ratings, indicating safe, suspicious, or dangerous sites. Although less precise in labeling than Safe Web, it integrates smoothly with social media and webmail platforms. Together, these tools deliver exceptional phishing protection, providing transparent and actionable risk data.
Firewall
Norton’s Smart Firewall significantly surpasses standard system firewalls by providing ARP and DNS spoofing protection, SSL man-in-the-middle attack detection, and custom traffic rule management. During tests, it blocked every intrusion attempt, including those undetected by Windows Firewall.
Modes such as Smart Mode, Ask Mode, and full lockdown options allow granular control over application connectivity. Smart Mode intelligently analyzes app behavior to decide access permissions, while Ask Mode allows manual intervention per request.
Advanced users can create per-application rules or block entire traffic types. Norton also automatically adjusts settings based on network type—tightening restrictions on public networks while relaxing them for trusted connections. Detailed connection logs provide visibility into network activity, making Norton’s firewall both robust and highly configurable.
Password manager
Norton’s password manager provides secure 256-bit AES encryption, unlimited storage, and synchronization across all devices. It includes browser extensions for major browsers and features such as auto-save, auto-fill, password generation, and vault auditing for password health checks.
Vault auditing flags weak, duplicate, or outdated passwords and refreshes automatically for real-time monitoring. Mobile login options enable unlocking via smartphone, while two-factor authentication (2FA) supports authentication apps or hardware keys.
However, recovery mechanisms are limited. Users must rely on a biometric reset or a recovery key—otherwise, the vault must be recreated. Despite these limitations, Norton’s password manager ranks as the best antivirus-integrated solution in 2026, combining usability, comprehensive syncing, and strong encryption.
VPN
Norton’s VPN offers unlimited data, 256-bit AES encryption, a kill switch (Windows and Android), split-tunneling, and WireGuard protocol support. It maintains a no-logs policy, ad tracker blocking, and Tor compatibility, ensuring strong privacy standards.
The VPN features over 2,000 servers across 29 countries, providing solid regional coverage for most users. Local connections show only minor slowdowns, but distant servers experience significant latency and reduced upload speeds.
Streaming support is strong, working with Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, and Amazon Prime, though not BBC iPlayer. P2P sharing is limited to automatic server assignments without manual location selection. Overall, Norton’s VPN is a top-tier bundled option, balancing usability, security, and consistent performance.
Other security features
Norton offers extensive additional protections. Its ransomware shield blocks simulated ransomware in real time and lets users customize protected folders and file types. The Safe Family parental controls provide content filtering, screen time limits, and YouTube monitoring, available on most platforms except Mac.
Privacy Monitor identifies and assists in removing personal data from brokers, while Dark Web Monitoring employs live agents to track compromised information in over 30 countries. LifeLock identity protection delivers credit monitoring, recovery assistance, and insurance coverage up to $3 million for eligible users.
Cloud Backup provides 2–500 GB of encrypted storage, while device optimization tools clean, defragment, and update software. Utilities Ultimate enhances this with registry repair and performance tracking. Additional tools include AntiTrack, Genie scam protection, PC SafeCam, Deepfake protection, and Safe Email.
Other advanced modules include a sandbox for isolated testing, Rescue Disk for system recovery, and a Private Browser that blocks ads and trackers. Altogether, Norton 360’s ecosystem integrates broad and proactive defenses unmatched by most 2026 antivirus suites.
Plans and pricing
In the table below are the core products with their features and prices.
The prices shown are from the USA. However, most brands have different prices (and currencies) in other regions. So visit the brand’s website to see the price in our country.
Note that some features, like the identity theft protection features, are accessed through Norton’s website, rather than the app.
Plan description
Norton offers a range of antivirus plans to suit various needs and budgets, from basic coverage to extensive security and identity theft protection. Here’s a quick rundown:
This basic plan, costing $19.99 / year, offers strong malware protection for one device along with a smart firewall and 2GB of cloud storage. It’s basic but effective for a single device.
For $39.99 / year, this plan covers one to three devices and adds features like VPN, dark web monitoring, and webcam protection. It’s a great starting point for comprehensive security.
At $49.99 / year, this is Norton’s best-value plan, supporting up to five devices. It includes parental controls, privacy monitor, and a whopping 50GB of cloud storage.
Norton 360 for Gamers
Tailored for gamers, this $44.99 / year plan offers the game booster Norton GO. In our tests, it optimized games noticeably, making it a top pick for gamers.
Available in select countries, these plans provide extra storage and cover up to 10 devices. Priced at $59.99 / year, they’re good if you have multiple devices and lots of data.
Norton 360 with LifeLock Plans (US Only)
These plans combine identity theft protection with robust antivirus features. Starting at $99.99 / year, they provide credit monitoring, legal assistance, and substantial identity theft insurance.
Norton’s plans offer strong antivirus protection with extras like VPN, cloud storage, and identity theft protection in higher-tier plans. However, the subscription model lacks flexibility in adding extra devices. Still, Norton covers a broad range of cybersecurity needs, from basic to premium.
Test score comparison
We conduct in-house anti-malware tests and review the results from AV-Test, a German lab renowned for its objective evaluations. Below is the average of the last 10 AV-Test results for Windows. Their scoring criteria are:
- Protection (1-6): Effectiveness in blocking malware.
- Performance (1-6): Impact on system speed.
- Usability (1-6): Frequency of errors like false alarms.
We calculate a final score using this formula:
Final Score = 60% Protection + 20% Performance + 20% Usability.
While these results influence our choice of the best antivirus for Windows 11, other factors like privacy and identity protection also play a key role. For a similar analysis for Android or macOS, visit our other comparisons:
Note: Brands not listed in the table either do not participate in AV-Test trials or are tested too infrequently, such as Surfshark Antivirus.
Source: AV-Test (Last updated: November 2025).
Price comparison
We’ve compared the prices of the top antivirus products for Windows. To make it a fair comparison, we looked at what it would cost us, to protect a single Windows PC with the most essential features:
- Anti-malware
- Anti-phishing (web protection)
- Firewall
- Password manager
- Unlimited VPN (no data limit)
A few notes:
- Some brands are missing features, lowering their value for money.
- Prices are second-year prices in the USA, without first-year discounts.
- Prices are rounded up for readability (e.g., $99.99 becomes $100).
Brands have different prices outside the USA. See those on their website.
User reviews
We’ve compared the user reviews of all antivirus brands. We’ve used the scores and review count of TrustPilot, a leading user review platform.
We consider scores above 4.0 very good. Lower scores indicate that the brand might have a poor product or customer service. McAfee’s scores, for instance, are worrying.
Source: TrustPilot. Last Update: November 2025.
Company Profile
Norton is part of the Gen Digital family (NASDAQ: GEN), a global leader in Cyber Safety with a mission to make the digital world safer and more private for everyone.
Gen is a collection of renowned cybersecurity brands that serve over 500 million users in 150 countries. Its portfolio includes Norton, Avast, LifeLock, Avira, and AVG.
Operating from dual headquarters in Tempe, Arizona, and Prague, Czech Republic, Gen brings together cutting-edge AI technology and data analytics to tackle today’s most pressing cybersecurity challenges.
By consolidating these brands, Gen combines expertise and innovation to address both current and future cybersecurity threats.
How we test antivirus software
At SoftwareLab, we provide thorough and unbiased antivirus reviews to help you make informed cybersecurity decisions. Our comprehensive testing covers all critical aspects of antivirus performance. We assess each product in six key categories, weighted by importance:
For even more details, visit our blog posts on how we test antivirus software.
Anti-Malware Protection (30%)
We evaluate how well the antivirus detects and removes various malware types like viruses, trojans, ransomware, and spyware.
In-House Testing: Using 1,200 diverse malware samples, we conduct real-time attack simulations to assess detection and neutralization of known and emerging threats through signature-based and heuristic analysis.
Independent Lab Results: We incorporate findings from respected institutes like AV-Test, SE Labs, and AV-Comparatives to validate our results.
Security and Privacy Features (30%)
We assess additional tools that enhance cybersecurity:
Web Protection: Testing the software’s ability to block phishing sites and web-based threats by accessing known malicious websites.
Firewall: Evaluating effectiveness using intrusion simulations and the ShieldsUP! test to secure network ports and monitor traffic.
Password Manager: Assessing capabilities to generate, store, and auto-fill complex passwords, plus features like two-factor authentication and biometric login.
VPN: Evaluating security protocols, encryption, speed, server locations, data limits, and support for streaming and peer-to-peer sharing while hiding IP addresses.
Parental Controls: Testing screen time management, content filtering, location tracking, and resistance to bypass attempts to protect children.
Identity Theft Protection: Assessing monitoring of personal info and responsiveness to potential identity theft alerts.
Secure Cloud Storage: Evaluating capacity, security, usability, and features like file encryption and secure sharing.
Anti-Ransomware: Simulating attacks to test detection and blocking of unauthorized encryption via behavioral detection and exploit prevention.
Dark Web Monitoring: Checking effectiveness in scanning the dark web for personal info and providing timely alerts.
System Performance Impact (10%)
We measure how the antivirus affects device performance during everyday tasks:
Resource Usage: Monitoring CPU and memory during scans and real-time protection.
Performance Tests: Evaluating impact on launching apps, downloading files, browsing websites, and copying data, aligned with AV-Test criteria.
False Positives (10%)
Accuracy is crucial to avoid interruptions:
False Positive Detection: Assessing how often legitimate applications or files are incorrectly flagged.
Usability Tests: Referencing AV-Test evaluations to gauge false positive frequency for effectiveness and user-friendliness.
Price and Value (10%)
We analyze overall value by comparing features to cost:
Cost Analysis: Considering subscription prices, device coverage, and multi-year plans.
Feature Evaluation: Assessing if included features justify the price compared to competitors.
Ownership and Reputation (10%)
Trust is essential in cybersecurity providers:
Company Background: Researching history, industry track record, mergers, or acquisitions.
Privacy Policies: Examining data handling, privacy commitment, and compliance with regulations.
Ethical Conduct: Investigating past unethical behavior, data breaches, or controversies.
Sources and tools
- Apple Platform Security
- AV-Comparatives Consumer
- AV-Test Android
- AV-Test macOS
- AV-Test Windows
- GRC Firewall Test
- Microsoft Defender
- SpeedTest VPN
- Trustpilot Security Software
Author: Tibor Moes
Founder & Chief Editor at SoftwareLab
Tibor has tested 28 antivirus programs and 25 VPN services, and holds a Cybersecurity Graduate Certificate from Stanford University.
He uses Norton to protect his devices, NordVPN for his privacy, and Proton for his passwords and email.
