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There are numerous ways to play high-end games in the cloud in 2022, but rarely can you access all the top streaming services from a single screen. However, Samsung is making that a reality for anyone with one of its latest smart TVs. Its new Gaming Hub interface is getting support for Stadia, GeForce Now, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. Not enough? Amazon Luna is coming, too.
We are still admittedly early in the era of cloud gaming, but it’s not going anywhere. Samsung’s integrated approach has advantages as the selection of games varies from one service to the next. So, like streaming video services, people may end up paying for more than one gaming cloud at a time. In that world, a Samsung TV makes it easy to jump between different services without using up all your HDMI ports.
To play cloud-rendered games on the big screen, all the popular services have their preferred hardware. For Stadia it’s the Chromecast, GeForce Now works best on the Shield TV, and Xbox Cloud Gaming is tightly integrated with the Xbox console (its plans to build a streaming stick have been delayed). Samsung’s current lineup of TVs will put all these services on one device. When Luna does arrive in Gaming Hub, you’ll be able to ditch your Fire TV. There are some TVs that offer Stadia or GeForce Now, but the inclusion of Xbox is a big deal for Samsung’s TVs.
Samsung says Gaming Hub will work with all popular Bluetooth controllers. Although, presumably the Wi-Fi-enabled Stadia and Luna controllers will work with their respective services (they connect directly to the internet instead of going through the streaming device). In the same vein, Gaming Hub will list any game consoles you have physically connected to the TV. It supports controller passthrough, so you can have one controller or headset paired with the TV for use on multiple devices and services.
Samsung makes some of the best TVs on the market right now, but its software is pretty heavy compared to others on the market. The Gaming Hub might give people more reason to stick with Samsung’s smart features rather than adding a streaming box like a Chromecast or Amazon Fire TV. There’s no installation necessary — Gaming Hub will be included with these TV sets with native support for the aforementioned cloud gaming services. Or rather, it will be. Samsung’s Gaming Hub won’t be available on your TV right this minute, but it will arrive as part of a free software update later this year.
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