Even though we’ve had Smart TVs around for quite a while, they weren’t particularly useful for enthusiast-level gaming. Either you had to connect your console or gaming rig to the TV, or you could access some family-friendly games, at best. Now, things are about to change, thanks to Samsung. The company has announced the launch of the Samsung Gaming Hub, a gaming centre for gamers who own Samsung Smart TVs. This hub was announced at CES 2022, and Samsung has stated that it’ll help gamers access mainstream gaming titles, regardless of their consoles. Let’s check out all the details about it here!
What is Samsung Gaming Hub?
Essentially, the Samsung Gaming Hub is a centre for streaming your favourite gaming titles. You can use whichever controller you own, connect it to your Samsung Smart TV, and start playing whichever games you want. It could be Microsoft-based games like Halo Infinite or PlayStation titles such as Marvel’s Spider-Man. According to an official spokesperson, “the Gaming Hub bridges the gap between hardware and software to create a simpler, easier way to discover and play tons of games from great partners like Nvidia GeForce NOW, Stadia, and Utomik”.
The addition of this streaming hub in the world of modern Smart TVs signals the introduction of mainstream gaming in Smart TVs. Other smart TV manufacturers such as LG have had some success with Nvidia GeForce NOW and Stadia. However, Samsung aims to create a single entertainment hub for all things gaming.
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Supported apps/consoles
Since the hub is still in its infancy, very few partners have been added to the streaming service. Samsung has stated that more partners will be added to the streaming service in the coming months. When it was first announced, people were surprised that the hub didn’t partner with Microsoft to provide the Xbox Game Pass. Samsung had worked closely with Microsoft earlier, and this partnership had been a fruitful one. Thankfully, the Xbox Game Pass has been made available on launch.
The following apps will be available for both games and music in the Samsung Gaming Hub:
- Nvidia GeForce NOW
- Xbox Game Pass
- Utomik
- YouTube
- Spotify
- Twitch
- Google Stadia
As you can see, this is quite a comprehensive list for the initial stages. It’ll be interesting to see which other streaming services will be added to the hub in the future. What’s noteworthy here is that PlayStation Now isn’t supported with the Gaming Hub at launch. Samsung has partnered with the brand to bring this service to their customers. However, the support for PlayStation Now was ended by Samsung in 2017. The company has stated that support for Amazon Luna would arrive later, though.
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How does it work?
With the Samsung Gaming Hub, it doesn’t matter if you have a connected console or not. However, you will require accounts for the streaming services you want to use. Basically, you will need accounts and a controller that’s connected to the Smart TV. You’ll be able to stream the entire gaming libraries of the partners available with the Gaming Hub. Of course, you’ll need to have high-speed internet to ensure that your gaming experience is a worthwhile one. Otherwise, it’ll be difficult for you to stream such detailed content on an HD TV.
You can also access music and your favourite content creators through Twitch, YouTube, and Spotify. This makes sense thanks to the growing gaming content creation industry, and Samsung is providing more access for content creators through the Gaming Hub. This will lead to a more social-based gaming experience. Additionally, the hub’s “AI Gaming” technology will keep track of the games you play. It will recommend games to add to your wishlist or library based on your preferences!
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Supported TVs
The Gaming Hub will be available on all Samsung Smart TVs and Smart Monitors that have been launched in 2022. During the CES 2022, Samsung unveiled some of their new Micro LED, Neo QLED, and Lifestyle TV sets. We’re assuming that these TVs and monitors will provide support for the Samsung Gaming Hub. These TVs will be running on the Tizen OS, Samsung’s in-house operating system based on Linux.
The company claims that all the new smart TVs and Smart Monitors will be revamped for “faster decoding” as well as “optimized buffer control technology”. This will reduce any input lag by a 30 per cent margin. The AI upscaling technology will also be introduced to ensure that gamers utilising 4K and 8K resolutions receive clear and crisp picture quality.
Controller support
The Gaming Hub will support all the major console controllers, such as the Xbox Game Controller, PlayStation Controller, and Stadia Controller. Samsung had already provided support for these controllers in their previous Smart TV models through Bluetooth. Popular entertainment outlet The Verge has also stated that the Gaming Hub will support passthrough input. This implies that you can use any supported controller to play the games that you want, regardless of the console they’re based on. There won’t be any requirement to switch from an Xbox controller for Xbox games to a PlayStation controller for the PlayStation games.
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Availability
At the moment, very few countries have support for the Samsung Gaming Hub. These are the US, UK, Germany, Canada, France, Italy, Korea, Brazil, and Spain. There haven’t been any announcements about when it’ll be available in India. Hopefully, it won’t be too long as the Indian Smart TV and gaming market segments have been on a steady rise of late.
Summing up
So, this was all about the launch of the new Samsung Gaming Hub. We will soon be able to stream and play entire gaming libraries on our smart TVs instead of buying entire consoles and gaming rigs. This presents a promising advancement for the gaming market and is bound to see some more improvements in the near future. Are you excited about the Samsung Gaming Hub? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!
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Anirban Dutta Choudhury
Writer, researcher, and avid gamer. Geeks out over postmodern novels and the latest PC games. Usually intends all his puns.