Last month I reported that the Xbox TV app will launch for a subset of 2022 Samsung smart TVs. It now seems the app will be part of a wider hub that sees Samsung take a lead in making TVs a cloud gaming platform. Alongside Xbox in the new Samsung Gaming Hub, users can also pick games from Nvidia’s GeForce Now, Utomik, and Google Stadia.
Samsung also says that Amazon Luna will also land on the hub soon. Alongside those game streaming services, the Samsung Gaming Hub also supports apps such as Twitch.
According to Samsung, the Gaming Hub is much more than just a place to help users launch their game streaming services. Game consoles that connect via HDMI (including Xbox and PlayStation) will appear in the hub, allowing users to power on from the hub.
Furthermore, the Samsung Gaming Hub UI will also support passthrough controller inputs. This allows users to use just one controller instead of pairing multiple gamepads. Interesting this allows Bluetooth headsets and gamepads to work across apps, devices, and services.
Xbox Exclusivity
While the Hub is building itself as a content curator for game streaming services, the one unique addition currently is the Xbox TV app. Stadia, Twitch, and other services are already available on other Smart TV platforms, including Samsung.
However, Xbox Game Pass is exclusive to Samsung Gaming Hub. This is the only TV platform where you can access Microsoft’s catalog of over 100 games. Of course, you will need the Game Pass subscription to do so. Users who get Xbox Game Pass Ultimate also receive Xbox Gold, Xbox Live, and access to the EA Play library.
Tip of the day: After years of hefting a laptop around, you inevitably build up a menagerie of Wi-Fi networks. For the most part, they’ll sit on your PC, hardly used, but at times a change in configuration can make it difficult to connect to a network your computer already remembers. At this point, it can be beneficial to make Windows forget a Wi-Fi network and delete its network profile.
