When Samsung announced its TVs' new gaming hub earlier this year, I imagine quite a few people with relatively recent Samsung TVs were disappointed: the built-in streaming with Xbox and GeForce NOW support was only available on 2022 models, even though many of Samsung's QLED 8K TVs, Neo QLED 4K TVs and OLED TVs from previous years had more than enough horsepower to handle cloud gaming.
So it's great to see that Samsung is now bringing cloud gaming to its 2021 TVs, as well as expanding what's available.
Which 2021 Samsung TVs are getting cloud gaming?
“When Samsung Gaming Hub rolled out earlier this year on 2022 TV models, the number one question we received was ‘when is game streaming coming to my 2021 TV.’ Today we are happy to share with our eager fans that they will be able to play the games they love before the end of this year,” said Mike Lucero, Head of Product for Gaming at North America Service Business Team, Samsung Electronics.
The rollout will include Xbox, GeForce NOW and Utomik, with Blackout and Antstream Arcade coming early next year. The individual apps will be available via the Samsung App Store as they go live.
Not only that, but GeForce NOW streaming is getting an upgrade to 4K resolution on 2022 Samsung TVs as well as "select" 2021 TVs. That should arrive within the next few weeks.
The big question, of course, is which 2021 TVs are getting the gaming features? Engadget has the list, which includes the AU7000, AU8000 and AU9000 series, the Q50, Q60, Q70 and Q95, and the QN700, QN800, QN850 and QN900. and the LS03A and WS1A. The rollout will begin next week. Not all models will get the full gaming hub, but the individual apps will be available for all of the listed ones.
I won't be using the features – I've got my Xbox Series X and PS5 for gaming – but I think this is a brilliant way to get gaming on your big TV without having to shell out for a console, and it's great to see it being made available for many more Samsung TV owners.
