Samsung Works On A New Video Game Service In The Cloud

Samsung does not want to cede the game streaming space to companies like Google, Microsoft or NVIDIA. The South Korean company has advanced plans for a television-based "Cloud Gaming Platform" during its presentation at the developer conference. Details were scant, but this would allow Samsung TV owners to play games without "high-end hardware . " This is more likely to be used to play console or PC quality titles, rather than mobile games.

The tech company tested cloud games through a PC with Gaikai in 2012, though that, unfortunately, didn't get very far when Gaikai was sold to Sony and went on to work on PlayStation Now. However, the circumstances were also different then: Internet connections are much faster, and many more people are familiar with the concept of streaming games. Samsung's potential audience is considerably broader, even if it's primarily focused on TVs.

Whether or not Samsung captures that audience is another matter. The cloud gaming market already has some heavyweights, and even those are facing challenges. Google shut down Stadia's in-house gaming studios in February and this month began licensing Stadia technology to companies like AT&T. Samsung has yet to show how it could stand out from that package.