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Who Is My Student Loan Servicer? Here's How to Find Out
Who Is My Student Loan Servicer? Here's How to Find Out
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced his long-awaited student loan forgiveness plan. Borrowers who make less than $125,000 are eligible for cancellation of $10,000 of their federal direct loans, or $20,000 if they are federal Pell Grant recipients.
More than 45 million Americans carry some amount of student loan debt. Close to 8 million borrowers (less than 20%) may be eligible to have their debts wiped automatically, according to the Department of Education.
If you want more details on your specific loan, however, you'll want to contact your loan servicer -- the third-party company contracted by the Department of Education to handle billing and other services.
You may want to reach out, for example, if you made payments during the loan forbearance period and want to request a refund to maximize your debt forgiveness.
Here's how to find out who your loan servicer is, how to contact them and what you should have handy when you reach out.
For more on student debt forgiveness, find out if you're eligible, learn how to sign up and know how to avoid student loan payment scams.
Who is my student loan servicer?
If you don't know who your servicer is, you can sign into your Federal Student Aid account with your FSA ID. Once you get to the dashboard, you'll see your service provider and other loan details.
You can also call the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC) at 800-433-3243 or consult the Department of Education's "Who is my loan servicer?" site for more information.
How do I contact my student loan servicer?
There are nine companies that manage most federal student loans. The largest is Nelnet, which acquired Great Lakes Education Loan Services in 2018 and is now responsible for overseeing more than 40% of all student loans.
If you know your provider, we've included links and telephone numbers, below, for the companies that service federal student loans.
Student Loan Servicers
Servicer
Website
Phone Number
Aidvantage
https://aidvantage.com/
800-722-1300
EdFinancial Services (HESC)
https://edfinancial.com/home
855-337-6884
Educational Computer Systems Incorporated (ECSI)
https://efpls.ed.gov/
866-313-3797
FedLoan Servicing (PHEAA)
https://myfedloan.org/
800-699-2908
Great Lakes Educational Loan Services
https://mygreatlakes.org/
800-236-4300
Maximus
https://maximus.com/fsa
800-621-3115
Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA)
https://www.mohela.com/
888-866-4352
Nelnet
https://www.nelnet.com/welcome
888-486-4722
Oklahoma Student Loan Authority (OSLA)
https://public.osla.org/
866-264-9762
Be patient. It might take some time
Biden's announcement has unsurprisingly sparked a massive number of inquiries -- servicer sites are experiencing delays, and providers are also reporting unusually high call volumes.
Redditors on the Student Loans subreddit on Wednesday reported they were on the phone for several hours.
On Thursday morning, Nelnet asked borrowers to "hold off on calling us as we continue to experience heavy phone volume."
Come prepared
When you do reach out, have handy any information you know about your loan before contacting your loan provider, including account numbers and balances. This is especially important if you are going to ask for a refund.
They might not have the answers you need
"We do not have any more details on who is eligible for loan cancellation than what was announced by President Biden," Nelnet tweeted on Thursday.
On Friday, EdFinancial indicated the most up-to-date info was on the Education Department site, tweeting "We have no updates. Loan eligibility has not been shared with servicers."
Aidvantage also recommends consulting the FSA website.
Get ready for major changes to who services federal student loans
In 2020, US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced a shakeup to the companies contracted to manage student loan payments.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
In June 2020, then-Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced sweeping changes to the companies that would be managing active and defaulted student loans for the federal government to streamline the process and improve a system that "can lead to customer confusion and inconsistent operations."
The number of third-party contractors with contracts from the Department of Education was trimmed from nine to five: EdFinancial Services, F.H. Cann & Associates, Maximus (which runs Aidvantage), MOHELA and Trellis Company.
Aidvantage recently began taking over the 6 million borrower accounts previously overseen by Navient, which announced it was getting out of the federal student loan business last September.
After December 2022, FedLoan Servicing will no longer continue its contract with the government, and accounts are already moving to MOHELA. Some non-Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) accounts have been moved from FedLoan to Nelnet.
But DeVos also announced that Nelnet and its subsidiary, Great Lakes, would no longer manage student loans for the federal government. The company's contract was initially set to expire in December 2022, but the Department of Education under Biden extended it through Dec. 14, 2023, the Lincoln Journal-Star reported.
Borrowers should receive a letter or email if their assigned servicer has been changed. Your account information should transfer automatically, with no change to the terms of your loan.
If you are told of a change, however, it might be worth checking in with your new provider.
How much is a nothing phone 1 how much will nothing phone 1 cost nothing phone 1 cost nothing phone 1 price review nothing phone 1 cost nothing phone 1 price nothing phone 1 case nothing phone nothing phone 2
Nothing Phone 1 Specs: How This Cheaper Phone Compares to the Pixel 6, iPhone 13
Nothing Phone 1 Specs: How This Cheaper Phone Compares to the Pixel 6, iPhone 13
There's a lot of hype surrounding the Nothing Phone 1 launch, especially considering its midrange price. But there are valid reasons for the fanfare. The Phone 1 is Carl Pei's first phone launch since his departure from OnePlus, which he led from a startup beloved by serious Android fans to a global purveyor of world-class phones.
Nothing says it's sold more than half a million pairs of its Ear 1 earbuds, its first consumer tech product, since its launch last August. And Nothing counts a glittering group of backers -- including iPod co-inventor Tony Fadell, Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin and GV, formerly Google Ventures -- all betting Pei can create a big something out of his curiously named company.
The Phone 1, which is available in both black and white, went up for sale today, July 12. It's slated for a global release, hitting distributors across the world including the UK, Germany, India and Hong Kong. There's currently no plan for a US release, a spokesperson for the company said.
While pricing varies across markets, the Phone 1, starts at approximately $475 for the base 8GB RAM, 128GB storage variant and maxes out at about $590 for the 12GB RAM, 256GB storage variant after converting from international prices. With this price range, the Phone 1 is up against the iPhone SE 2022, the Google Pixel 6 and the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE, among others. You can also scroll down to the bottom of this page for a side-by-side specs comparison, but make sure to check out our hands-on video of Phone 1 to glean first-hand insights of the device.
The Phone 1 includes a 6.55-inch OLED display, a dual-camera module, a fast-enough processor, a large battery with wireless charging and reverse charging. It also has an in-box charger, a feature that's increasingly uncommon even in premium phones. But one thing is obvious: The lion's share of Nothing's budget went towards design, although it may not be entirely unique considering the Phone 1's design, which echoes the iPhone's flat sides and rounded edges.
In an industry first, the Phone 1 has a transparent back panel, which gives you a peek of the device's components, including the camera, wireless charging coil and USB-C port. Procuring components that look good and function well under a transparent cover required meticulous customisation of components as well as rigorous testing, the company said. Rival manufacturer Xiaomi tried to create its own phone with a transparent design in the past, but its version used dummy components to mask the real ones.
The back of the Phone 1 is also home to the so-called "glyph" interface, the device's standout feature. The back of the phone literally lights up, thanks to hundreds of LED lights, which can be customized to tell you who is calling or indicate charging status. Given the design costs, Nothing said it was forced to make some tradeoffs to bring the Phone 1 to fruition at its targeted price. One of those is the chipset, which is the Snapdragon 778G Plus instead of the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processors. The company said it chose the midrange Qualcomm chipset because it's tried, tested and it "doesn't overheat."
The Phone 1 may not be as durable as some of its peers. Its IP53 rating is less than the IP67 rating of the similarly priced iPhone SE 2022, for example. The former rating means Phone 1 is protected against dust, and light sprays of water, but it is hardly waterproof. In other words, you'll be fine if you're caught in a light shower with this phone, but you shouldn't go running in the rain with it. Dropping it in the sink or toilet is a no-go, and you should definitely not take it anywhere near a pool.
To learn more about how Phone 1 stacks up against competitor phones, take a look at CNET's specs chart below.
Nothing 1 vs. competitors
Nothing Phone 1
Apple iPhone SE (2022)
Google Pixel 6
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE
iPhone 13
Display size, resolution
6.55-inch OLED display, 2,400x1,080 pixels
4.7-inch LCD; 1,334x750 pixels; 60Hz
6.4-inch OLED; 2,400x1,080 pixels; 60 or 90Hz
6.4-inch AMOLED screen; Full HD Plus resolution; 2,340x1,080 pixels; 120Hz
Battery sized not disclosed (charger not included; supports wireless charging)
4,614 mAh
4,500 mAh (no bundled charger)
Undisclosed; Apple lists 19 hours of video playback
Fingerprint sensor
In-display
Under display
In-display
No
Connector
USB-C
Lightning
USB-C
USB-C
Lightning
Headphone jack
No
None
None
None
No (Face ID)
Special features
5G, IP53, Three years of Android updates, dual SIM, 120Hz adaptive refresh rate
5G-enabled; supports 25W wired fast charging; water-resistant (IP67); dual-SIM capabilities (nano-SIM and e-SIM); wireless charging
5G sub 6 (some carrier models also have 5G mmWave) support, Wi-Fi 6E, 30W fast charging, Magic Eraser, Motion mode, Real Tone, Face Unblur, Cinematic Pan, five years' OS and security updates, IP68 rating for dust and water-resistance, Gorilla Glass Victus (front), Gorilla Glass 6 (back), (nano-SIM and e-SIM)
Gaming phones like the Nubia RedMagic 7 aren't trying to compete with Samsung Galaxy devices or Google Pixel phones. They instead crank up the Android gaming experience with specs that sound like they belong in a PC. The RedMagic 7 allows you to max out games for excellent responsiveness and performance.
Features like the 6.8-inch 165Hz refresh rate AMOLED screen, 12GB of RAM and 65-watt charging speeds also have a benefit beyond just being big numbers. They give us a glimpse at features that will likely make their way over to more mainstream phones in coming years.
For the price -- $629 (£529, which is roughly AU$940) -- all of these features might sound like a steal, but there are plenty of reasons why this phone isn't for most people, stemming primarily from tweaks to Android 12 that prioritize gaming performance over user experience. The RedMagic also has a shorter software update cycle than other phones at this price. And while a cooling fan is a common feature on many gaming phones, the RedMagic 7 includes an internal one, which is vital to keep the phone from overheating during intensive gameplay.
The RedMagic 7's $629 starting price includes 128GB of storage and 12GB of memory -- the latter already being a ridiculous amount for a phone. The review unit I tested is $799 and has 256GB of storage and an absurd 18GB of RAM. For perspective, the $800 Galaxy S22 has 8GB of RAM.
The RedMagic 7 comes with a 65-watt GaN charger.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
A little bit Android, a little bit Switch
At first glance, the RedMagic 7 seems like any other Android 12 phone. You unlock it with an in-screen fingerprint sensor and are greeted with a skinned version of Android 12 that includes themed widgets like a switch for the internal cooling fan and a toggle for quickly cranking the display's refresh rate from 60Hz up to 165Hz.
However, this RedMagic OS customization makes a number of annoying default choices that aren't great for casual users. Luckily, they can be switched off pretty easily. Apps are organized into multiple home screens like on iOS. To find the app drawer, you have to turn it on in settings. Once you set it up, you can keep most apps there and organize the ones you want onto the home screens.
The default internet browser is NextWord, which is easy to switch to Chrome or Firefox. And I hope you figure this out faster than I did, but the phone puts a RedMagic watermark on all your photos. After another frustrating trip to Settings I was able to turn that off as well.
You may find yourself visiting the Settings menu a lot to change some of the defaults in the RedMagic 7.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
OS annoyances aside, this phone is clearly aimed at gamers. A red physical switch on the top-left of the phone's transparent body boots it into a game launcher. The aptly named Game Space looks more like the menus you find on the Nintendo Switch and automatically adds games from your app library.
Gaming mode makes several tweaks to the phone's settings: It disables notifications, turns on the fan and adds menus for quick access to display refresh rates and processor performance. I set it up to show the frames per second as I played which helped determine which games supported higher refresh rates.
On the right side of the phone there's a fan exhaust and touch-sensitive areas that emulate shoulder buttons on a game controller. You can set up the "buttons" to tap specific areas of the screen during gameplay -- for instance I coupled them to the shoot button in Apex Legends Mobile and on the Use and Report buttons in Among Us.
Mortal Kombat Mobile supports the 165Hz refresh rate allowed by the RedMagic 7's screen.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
Gaming runs fast and sometimes hot
Along with the 165Hz display refresh rate, the RedMagic 7 touts a "720Hz Multi-Finger Touch Sampling Rate" -- their words. This refers to how responsive screen taps are while playing games. In lieu of having physical buttons, having a cranked-up touch rate for the screen makes a lot of sense. I found it particularly helpful for games streamed from the Google Stadia cloud service.
Cloud gaming in general is notorious for lag under even the fastest of internet connections, but with the RedMagic's 720Hz touch rate screen I was almost able to create combos in Mortal Kombat 11. It also made it possible to play Marvel's Avengers using the touchscreen over the Stadia cloud. These games are made for a physical controller, so while it's not an ideal or competitive way to play, it works fine for a quick game over good Wi-Fi.
The Game Space launcher on the RedMagic 7, which puts Android games into a more console-like menu.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
What was more interesting were the handful of games that supported the 165Hz screen refresh rate. Mortal Kombat Mobile (separate from Mortal Kombat 11) cranks all the way up to 165Hz, making all the punches and battles look super smooth. On the other hand, Rayman Adventures, which supports 165Hz, runs at double or triple speed. I had to turn the screen refresh rate down to 60Hz to run at a normal speed.
Most games however ran at 60 frames per second regardless of what I set. While Apex Legends Mobile appeared to top out at 60fps, the game did let me max all of its settings out. Performance remained super smooth throughout a 20-minute match, but I definitely noticed the phone was physically hot to touch. The RedMagic comes with a case that makes the heat from gaming substantially more tolerable.
The RedMagic 7 can charge from 0% to 100% in roughly 30 minutes.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
Fast charging that I want to see in more phones
The 65-watt GaN charger that's included with the phone is a serious perk. The dual 4,500-mAh double-cell battery can recharge from 0% to 98% in just over 30 minutes. This is a phone you definitely won't need to charge overnight. Interestingly enough when charging, an onscreen graphic shows the percentage, and the cooling fan turns on to dissipate any heat.
Battery life was great: I consistently got through an entire day, even when I kept the screen at 165Hz. Even on days where I played games for an hour or so, I had 20% to 30% left by the evening.
Another neat trick is you can power the phone straight from the power adapter, skipping the battery. This should help the battery ultimately last longer, since when available the phone won't need to draw power directly from it at all times. And during gaming, this will reduce the amount of heat the phone gives off.
I hope other phones adopt these power-charging features. A 30-minute charging time means the phone can fully charge up while you shower and get dressed in the morning.
Citi Field in New York. The RedMagic 7 applies a watermark by default that can be turned off in the settings menu.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
Photography and software support take a back seat
The phone has a 64-megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel ultrawide camera and 2-megapixel depth sensor. The RedMagic can handle most daytime photography situations, but it isn't going to win any awards for its photos.
Crowds inside of Citi Field, taken on the RedMagic 7.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
In terms of image quality, photos I took at a New York Mets game were on par with lower priced phones like the Moto G Stylus 5G. Photos taken outdoors in sunlight generally looked good, while lower light situations were more difficult.
RedMagic 7's Night mode photo at New York's Citi Field.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
The phone's Night mode helps bring out a few more additional details, focusing on subjects like the signs at the Mets' stadium, but it's not quite as detailed as other phones in this price range. If you want a phone that takes great photos, I recommend looking at the $599 Pixel 6 or the $700 Galaxy S21 FE.
The RedMagic 7 has an 8-megapixel front-facing camera.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
The 8-megapixel front-facing camera is disappointing, even for livestreaming. Selfie photos are just OK. The front-facing camera isn't something I'd use to broadcast on Twitch. With gaming and livestreaming so interconnected, it'd be nice if the RedMagic 7 could function as a starter device towards that.
Software support on the RedMagic 7 isn't great. RedMagic says that its products tend to get one major update with a "maintenance period" that lasts between one and a half to two years.
Geekbench v.5.0 single-core
Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance
Geekbench v.5.0 multicore
Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance
Serious Android gamers only
The RedMagic 7 isn't for most people, nor is it intended to be. If you are a competitive gamer who really wants an absolutely screaming refresh rate, and doesn't mind a built-in cooling fan, then this phone is certainly an option for you. Just understand the software update tradeoffs and all the defaults you'll probably want to change out of the box.
But most other people should look elsewhere for a daily driver phone. Families considering the RedMagic as an alternative to a Switch would be better off buying a Nintendo Switch and a cheaper phone.
Nubia RedMagic 7 vs. Nubia RedMagic 6 vs. Samsung Galaxy S22 vs. Google Pixel 6
5G sub 6 (some carrier models also have 5G mmWave) support, Wi-Fi 6E, 30W fast charging, Magic Eraser, Motion mode, Real Tone, Face Unblur, Cinematic Pan, 5 years OS and security updates, IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, Gorilla Glass Victus (front), Gorilla Glass 6 (back)
Best cloud gaming services 2021 best cloud gaming services reddit best cloud gaming pc best cloud gaming service reddit best cloud backup best cloud storage 2022 best cloud web services best cloud vps hosting
Best Cloud Gaming Services
The dream of cloud gaming is the ability to play PC or console games on any device, anywhere, regardless of how low-power your hardware is. It promises you won't have to worry about updates, patches or upgrades. And the dream has come true to a large extent, making streaming games a reality.
Cloud gaming has come far since the hype train left the station in 2018. There's still no guarantee that you'll have a seamless, consistent experience, but it has reached the point where it feels like you can sit down and start playing without getting bogged down by glitches -- at least most of the time.
Network issues remain, but Wi-Fi 6 and 6E and 5G cell service have helped smooth over the rough spots. It's still not a great option, however, if you live in or travel to places somewhere with poor connectivity or if your broadband costs are exorbitant.
But from a gamers perspective, there are really only five major options dedicated to gaming, as opposed to general PCs-as-a-service, like Shadow, or closed-network solutions, like console remote play or Steam Link: Xbox Cloud Gaming (part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, one of our top game subscription services), Nvidia GeForce Now, PlayStation Plus Premium, Amazon Luna and Google Stadia.
And of those five, only Xbox and GFN really deliver on the promise, though Luna has its high points. The only non-PlayStation that PlayStation Plus Premium works on is PCs. And while Stadia's got strong underlying technology, Google seems more interested in making money off the platform rather than a consumer service, and it's effectively let it languish.
The two top choices are completely different from one another as well. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate streams games from its subscription library, while GeForce Now streams games you already own, as long as they're supported. If you can afford it and already have a large library, they complement each other nicely.
Lori Grunin/CNET
Xbox Game Pass delivers something for everyone who plays games, making it a great option for many types of gamers. Though the feature is still technically in beta, it also delivers robust cloud gaming with the $15-a-month Game Pass Ultimate subscription tier ($1 promo price for the first month). In addition to all the Game Pass perks, it can stream to any device via dedicated apps (PC, some TVs, Android phones), browsers (for iPads, iPhones and Chromebooks) or Xbox.
The library has close to 500 games, almost 400 of which are playable via the cloud, and that includes EA Play, with cloud support for quite a few of its games. That makes it one of the largest cloud-capable libraries available. And Game Pass offers some Xbox Game Studios games on day one -- the Studios produce a fair number of games -- and Microsoft says later this year it plans to expand support to allow you to play games you own via the cloud if they've left the service.
Some features, such as the frustrating "play with touch," feel like they're still in beta. Plus, as with many libraries, games come and go, and sometimes come again. It's also limited to 1080p at 60fps.
Read our Xbox Game Pass review.
Lori Grunin/CNET
Because of its smart set of plan options, solid performance and big and growing list of supported games, along with Nvidia's aggressive strategy for its data center and GPU businesses -- the bedrock on which GeForce Now is built -- it's a great choice for gamers who've amassed large game libraries and want to play them in more places. GeForce Now distinguishes itself from the competition because, in addition to a host of already free-to-play games, it lets you play games you've already paid for. It works primarily with Steam and Epic Games Store, but also GOG, and supports launchers for Ubisoft Connect and Origin. In other words, unlike all the others it doesn't require that you buy a special version of a game or stream games from a subscription library.
It works, via an app or web browser, on Android; Windows and Mac OS; Chromebooks; Chrome, Safari (for iPad and iPhone) and Edge web browsers; and Some TVs natively, all TVs via Nvidia Shield. Plus, with a browser it can be coaxed to run on more novel devices as well, such as the Xbox or Valve Steam Deck.
Pricing starts at free, basic 1080p streaming for hour-long sessions and ramps up to as much as $20 a month ($16.70 if you pay six months up front) for all the perks, including streams up to 4K/60fps HDR or 1440p/120fps for 8-hour sessions, ray tracing, priority server access and access to the highest-power servers.
Read our GeForce Now review.
Screenshot by Lori Grunin/CNET
Given that it's the oldest service -- Sony launched PlayStation Now in 2014, then bought the assets of OnLive in 2015 -- you'd think Sony would have added a lot more capabilities. When it relaunched in a tiered plan model in June 2022, it incorporated a relatively large catalog of older titles and a refreshed version of PS Now, available in the $18 per month Premium plan ($10 per month if you pay annually).
The non-console cloud gaming is strictly for PCs and only for a small subset of the catalog (and they're all PS4 or earlier games), via an app. And it doesn't include some of the desirable features of the service, such as the limited-time game demos, or features offered by other services, such as better-than-1080p quality and day-one availability.
Like Xbox Game Pass Ultimate's Cloud Gaming, though, you can stream games to your console if you're strapped for storage space or want to try before you buy.
How to Play PS Plus Premium Games on Your PC
Sarah Tew/CNET
Amazon Luna is less than two years old, and has expanded since it launched, but it seems to get no love from its parent company. It's nearly impossible to find the service on Amazon's site, though you'll see lots of promotion for the optional Luna Controller. You don't need Amazon's controller to play games through Luna, but the controller can connect directly to your Wi-Fi network for the lowest latency possible.
It works through an app (PC, Mac, Fire TV and Fire Tablet) or browser (PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android phone).
What makes it stand out is the large number of kid-friendly titles and its relatively granular parental controls for managing what they can or can't play. It's also joined at the hip with Prime Gaming, so you get the time-limited freebies and perks, plus integrated broadcasting via Twitch. Since it comes with a Prime subscription, if you're already a member you really don't lose anything.
It can get expensive, fast, though. The service is modeled after Prime Video. As a Prime member, you get access to the base games and the Luna Plus channel, which is essentially the core game library of a little more than 120 games-- you can also subscribe to it separately for $10 per month, with a seven day free trial. They're mostly older titles, without many AAA games.
The rest comes in add-on channels, which currently include family ($6 a month), retro ($5 a month), Jackbox games ($5 a month) and Ubisoft Plus (a whopping $18 a month for less than 40 games). So if you're not a Prime member, the total monthly cost can range from $10 to $44. Quality tops out at 1080p and 60fps.
And unlike other services, you can't buy individual games in order to continue to play them via the cloud (like Stadia Pro) or locally (without losing progress) when they leave the rotation.
Read our Amazon Luna preview
Lori Grunin/CNET
Stadia will be three years old in November, but it seems like Google still hasn't figured out what to do with it as a service. The underlying technology is solid, but the service feels like it hasn't evolved at all in the interim, still offering only 51 titles for the subscription tier. Google shuttered its game studio over a year ago and in March the company launched its Immersive Stream for Games platform, which third parties can license in order to create their own streaming offerings .
There are only two tiers for Stadia: free and Pro. You can try Stadia Pro for a month free, and after that it's $10 a month. If you "buy" a Stadia game, you don't need to maintain your subscription to play it, but it will only play via Stadia. It runs in Chrome and it supports 4K and 60fps for a few of the titles.
It operates via an app on compatible Android phones, browsers (Chrome for PC and Mac, Safari for iPhone and iPad) or on a TV via a Chromecast Ultra.
One benefit of Google's push for third-party licensees is that Stadia has accumulated a nice-sized library of free game trials that you can play without an account. They're not very long -- they range from 30 minutes to 2 hours -- but they include higher-profile titles like Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Far Cry 6.
