Samsung hits Apple TV with game streaming platforms coming to its Smart TVs

Samsung on Monday announced its new lineup of Smart TVs as part of the CES 2022 announcements. In addition to hardware improvements, the South Korean company is bringing game streaming platforms to its TVs for the first time in a bid to make them even more appealing against other TVs and even set-top boxes like Apple TV.

Among all the upgrades and features of Samsung’s new TVs, the company has introduced a new “Gaming Hub” that will let users play games directly on their TVs. This was made possible by Google Stadia and Nvidia GeForce Now coming to the new version of Tizen, the operating system for Samsung’s Smart TVs.

The Samsung Gaming Hub will empower players to discover and jump into the games they love faster through game streaming services. Players will have access to an extensive library of games through Samsung’s partnerships with industry leaders – NVIDIA GeForce Now, Stadia and Utomik – and that’s just the beginning.

While games will run online instead of locally, this makes popular titles like Cyberpunk 2077, FIFA 22, and Red Dead Redemption 2 accessible to even more people who don’t have a console. The only requirement (besides having a good internet connection) is to have a compatible joystick, as Samsung TVs will also support third-party controllers.

While this move will certainly have an impact on the game console market, this is also a way for Samsung to target Apple with Apple TV and Apple Arcade. The Cupertino-based company is known to have virtually banned game streaming platforms from its devices, since the only way to have them on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac is through web browsers.

Apple TV, on the other hand, doesn’t have a web browser, so the only way to play games on it is by downloading them from the App Store – which doesn’t offer A-triple titles to really compete with consoles.

Samsung Gaming Hub will be available for selected 2022 Samsung Smart TVs. Check out our coverage of everything Samsung announced today at CES 2022:

• Samsung unveils 2022 TVs with mini-LED panels, AirPlay 2, 144Hz refresh rates, NFT support, more
• Samsung announces Smart Monitor M8 with iMac-like design, USB-C, AirPlay, webcam