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Samsung joins cloud gaming market with extremely specific service

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Samsung recently announced that it is joining the ever-growing cloud gaming battle, although its approach to the service is likely too small-scoped to carve out any of the current market. During the Samsung Developer’s Conference 2021 keynote presentation, the company announced that it is developing its own cloud gaming platform, although it will only be available to certain TV owners.

[SDC21] Keynote

As with any other cloud gaming service, Samsung’s yet unnamed platform would let users play games without the need for high-end software, like a PS5 or Xbox Series X/S. All they would need instead is a Samsung Tizen Smart TV, various models of which have been available for years now. That being said, the TV market is massive, and the percentage of people that own that model of TV is likely a small slice of the pie.

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That makes Samsung’s cloud gaming service stand out from the pack, and not in a great way. Xbox Game Pass, for instance, lets users play games over the cloud on pretty much any screen they have in their house, from phones to laptops. Google Stadia can even run on any TV or computer. Limiting its cloud gaming service to just one model of TV will make it an extremely exclusive service, one that Samsung will have to expand outside of its own tech at some point to gain any meaningful foothold.

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Samsung only briefly touched on its cloud gaming platform during its keynote presentation, simply announcing that it exists and is in development. It’s not clear when users will actually be able to start streaming games straight to their Samsung TVs.

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Otto Kratky
Otto Kratky
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Otto Kratky is a freelance writer with many homes. You can find his work at Digital Trends, GameSpot, and Gamepur. If he's…
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