What you need to know
- Samsung is reportedly planning on launching a cloud gaming service on nearly every Galaxy phone and tablet by the end of the week.
- The company is hoping this will bring a positive revenue turn-around for the company as the smartphone industry has caused a decline.
- Samsung is also positive this change will assist the gaming industry as it will launch with a less than 30% service fee for developers.
Samsung is reportedly looking in a different direction to try and boost its performance as the smartphone industry slows down.
According to Korea Economic Daily, the company is apparently looking to launch a cloud gaming service across all of its Galaxy phones and tablets later this week (via 9to5Google). The publication adds the beta is being conducted in North America (U.S. and Canada) and will be unveiled during the Samsung Developer Conference in San Francisco, California, on October 5.
The company hopes to place its new mobile cloud gaming service on nearly "1 billion" devices after early tests have reportedly been "positive."
Samsung's reasoning for this is two-fold: it could boost its revenue while also assisting the gaming industry. For the former, Samsung's MX division has become "concerned" due to its slow sales performance despite record-breaking numbers regarding its latest foldables among camera improvements and semiconductor upgrades.
For the latter, the Korean OEM is looking into launching it with a service fee below 30% for developers interested in using the platform (lower than what Google or Apple would charge).
Since the cloud gaming service essentially means users will be able to stream a game directly on their phones or tablets, no download is required. An IT industry official added, "There is a survey result that 90% of people who encounter mobile game advertisements do not download the game due to inconvenience or other reasons. If games are provided in real-time through smartphones, the number of users will increase."
A recent analysis has revealed the tough spot the smartphone industry finds itself in. According to Canalys, the industry fell by around 22% YoY (year over year) in Q2 2023. Samsung was among those brands that sharply fell as the company experienced a 27% drop in profits, while Google was the only positive one as it observed a 59% increase.
There's no doubt that a gaming service like this will call some money from users' pockets who might be interested. But the fact that games are streamed and easily available on potentially every Galaxy device could make it quite attractive as users wouldn't have to sacrifice their internal storage.
Similarly, Samsung is also expanding its Gaming Hub to more of its older smart TVs later this year. This cloud gaming service lets consumers easily enjoy console games right from their TVs by connecting a supported Bluetooth controller and playing seamlessly.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra features a 6.8-inch display and a unique Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC that has been specifically tuned for Samsung's latest devices. It's because of this chip that the S23 Ultra can run games and streams without a hitch and it has further boosted its battery life to around 2 days.
