In this installment, Samsung Newsroom introduces how to enjoy home gaming with the Samsung Gaming Hub. The Samsung Gaming Hub provides fun gaming experiences for all types of gamers, from aspiring gamers who have to buy new gear to play games when starting out to avid gamers who want to play all sorts of games, including console games and downloadable games.

According to a report from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) in 2021, there are an estimated 214 million gamers in the U.S. alone, with 75 percent of households having at least one person who plays games. As a result, during the pandemic, gaming became a fun group activity, particularly for those looking to connect with others.

As home gaming continues to become a more popular form of home entertainment, Samsung Electronics is providing new gaming experiences to consumers. Samsung Newsroom introduces the way users can enjoy a more realistic, immersive home gaming experience with Samsung Smart TVs.

Take the First Step Towards Unfettered Home Gaming With Samsung Gaming Hub

The biggest hurdle for many who wish to start at-home gaming is the cost and inconvenience of buying and setting up gaming equipment. Many consoles carry console-exclusive game titles that are only available on one platform. In order to play different games, users have to buy multiple different consoles.

PC games come with a set of obstacles as well. Gamers need to have all the necessary accessories and computer parts, such as a CPU, graphics card and monitor, in order to have a smooth gaming experience. Furthermore, gamers who purchase downloadable games need to ensure they have ample storage space available for the new games to be installed, causing them to delete older games to clear up space on their PC.

Now, gamers can have a complete home gaming experience with Samsung Gaming Hub without having to worry about hardware requirements.

No gaming PC, console or additional gaming gear is needed; all you need is a controller to enjoy gaming on a Samsung Smart TV. Moreover, users don’t need to worry about storage space for their games either. Just like watching a TV series or a movie on a streaming platform, all you need to do to start playing is simply select a game title.

On Samsung Gaming Hub, users can access games from various industry-leading partners, including NVIDIA GeForce Now, Google Stadia and Utomik. Additionally, Gaming Hub supports Xbox Game Pass, making it the world’s first Smart TV platform to include the Xbox app. Through this partnership, Samsung Gaming Hub users are now able to stream hundreds of high-quality games including blockbuster titles. Moreover, they can play new games on day one of release from Xbox Games Studios and enjoy iconic franchise games from Bethesda Softworks and more, all without having to buy a console.

Users can also continue playing a game on their tablet or smartphone after they have begun playing it on a Smart TV. By logging in using a cloud service, all saved files from a TV, tablet or smartphone are linked together. This allows users to cross-play games from anywhere in their home regardless of which device they use.¹

From Taking an Online Trip to Learning How To Code: A Customized Home Gaming Experience

While winning games is fun, the act of playing a game itself can also be enjoyable. In addition to its collection of popular games, Samsung Gaming Hub offers educational games that are both entertaining and visually captivating.

For those who want to take a spontaneous trip somewhere, take a trip to anywhere in the world with Flight Simulator. Flight Simulator is a pilot simulation game that has been loved by many since it was launched in 1982. The game presents users with realistic visuals and detailed background scenery, such as sunsets and city lights. The game also gives users an extremely realistic flying experience, similar to actually flying a plane.

For families that enjoy playing games with their kids, keep the fun going with Minecraft. Minecraft is a game in which players freely create their own spaces through mining, farming and hunting in a world made of square blocks. Minecraft: Education Edition is used in classrooms around the world to teach a wide range of subjects including the basics of programming, such as coding and design. With an in-game tutorial, many walkthroughs and online guides available, those who aren’t familiar with playing games can easily learn to play Minecraft. For more family fun, the action-adventure game Minecraft Dungeons enables players to brave the dungeons alone or join up to three other players to battle monsters together and gather treasure in an epic quest.

Your Own Playground Made Complete With Samsung Neo QLED

One of the most important pieces of equipment for home gaming is the display. The display not only affects how immersive a game is but also the outcome of the game as well.

The Samsung Neo QLED presents the world inside a game with the best picture quality. With 100% color volume and improved, detailed black levels, users can appreciate the beautiful high-resolution graphics and find out where enemies are hiding in the dark.

The Neo QLED is equipped with various features that make gaming even more exciting. Specifically, it comes with Motion Xcelerator Turbo Pro technology, which provides crisp gameplay motion in 4K resolution at 144Hz, and FreeSync Premium Pro, which minimizes input latency, lag and stutter on screen. Thanks to these features, gamers can play CPU-intensive games smoothly and enjoy vivid, life-like graphics. From first-person shooter (FPS) games that require fast response times to racing games with fast switches between different screens, the Neo QLED gives gamers an upgraded and immersive gaming experience across all genres.

The Neo QLED also provides enhanced display aspect ratios of 21:9 and 32:9, allowing gamers to play on a larger screen rather than on gaming monitors only. The Neo QLED is the first of its kind in the industry to offer Ultrawide GameView. Ultrawide GameView captures game angles that weren’t available with a display aspect ratio of 16:9, allowing users to play games without any blind spots on screen. The Neo QLED also supports Multi View, a feature that allows users to play two different videos simultaneously. With Multi View, users can play a game while referring to a walkthrough at the same time.

Enjoy an upgraded sound experience with the Neo QLED. The Neo QLED comes with Moving Sound Pro+ (OTS Pro+) technology, technology that matches the direction and movement of an object within a video to the sound. By creating multi-dimensional sound, users feel as if they are inside the game itself.

Home entertainment is loved by many because it is the most convenient way to enjoy fun activities from the comfort of one’s home. The next era of home gaming has begun, an era where anyone can play video games as easily as they can watch TV from their homes. A Samsung Smart TV is all that’s needed to enjoy playing games comfortably. Jump into the immersive world of home gaming with Samsung Smart TVs.

¹ Requires Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription. Different for each game.

To kick off the series, Samsung Newsroom met with the developers and strategic planners of Samsung Gaming Hub,¹ which combines the power of streaming and gaming all in one place. From the story of the platform’s development to insights on their favorite games now available on Samsung Smart TVs, the experts behind Samsung Gaming Hub share the inside story of Samsung’s new all-in-one cloud gaming experience.

Power Up Your Gameplay Visuals With the Neo QLED

Samsung continues to lead innovation in Smart TV technology, driven by the goal of providing more and increasingly better entertainment options for consumers. As a result, the company decided to explore new gaming features that could be enjoyed specifically on Samsung Smart TVs.

In 2018, Samsung broke new ground by becoming the first in the industry to implement Auto Game Mode on TVs. Since then, Samsung has led the way in developing Smart TVs focused on leveling up the gaming experience. As a result, for the past four years, Samsung has won the CES Innovation Awards in the gaming category. In addition, Neo QLED proved its technological prowess last year by becoming the first TV to receive certification for Gaming TV Performance from Verband Deutscher Elektrotechniker (VDE), a well-regarded electrical engineering certification institute in Germany.

The Gaming TV Performance recognition from the VDE is granted based on the qualities of ‘Low Input Lag’ and ‘HDR with a brightness of higher than 1,000 nits.’

Input lag refers to the time it takes for an input command on a gamepad to appear on the screen. The shorter the input lag, the faster the response speed, allowing players greater control over their gameplay experience. The input lag for Samsung’s Neo QLED was 10ms or below in all game segments, meeting or exceeding the evaluation standards across the board.

The TV was also recognized for its technological advancement in HDR as well. Neo QLED provides the optimal contrast by making brighter screens even brighter and darker screens even darker. This technology earned Neo QLED the VDE certification.

What’s more, since last year, the entire line-up of Neo QLED has been equipped with the AMD FreeSync Premium Pro feature — another industry first. The FreeSync Premium provides a soft yet vivid picture quality by reducing or removing input delay, lagging screens and screen distortion while connecting your game console or PC to the TV display. As such, users can enjoy fluid, tear-free racing games with Neo QLED.

The Best of Gaming, All in One Place

With the hardware in place, powerful software is the next step for leveling up any home gaming rig. Launched on June 30th, the Samsung Gaming Hub will be the ultimate home for gaming, using only your TV.

The Gaming Hub is the Smart Hub’s new section dedicated to the latest games. Acting as a go-to streaming platform, the Samsung Gaming Hub displays popular games, recently played games and recommendations just for you — all in one, convenient place. No console is required. Gamers can simply select any game on the screen and play instantly. They won’t even have to wait for the game to download. It’s all there, right away. The Samsung Gaming Hub also supports multitasking, letting users explore videos or listen to music while playing games.

▲ Heej Chung, GEM PM of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics

“The biggest advantage is that the users can enjoy streaming games through Samsung Smart TVs and monitors without having to buy any extra gear,” said Heej Chung. “In other words, it’s a comprehensive game service where users can enjoy gaming content and experiences all at once in Samsung Smart TVs.”

“The way we watch videos has evolved from playing VHS tapes and installing set-top boxes to subscribing to OTT services and streaming videos. Likewise, the way we play games has shifted to gaming on the cloud,” said Chung. “Just as Samsung TVs have evolved with how we watch videos, we want to offer a better gaming experience for users.”

The Future of Games, for All

The Samsung Gaming Hub is gaining attention from users worldwide for giving users instant and seamless access to a wide variety of games. By partnering with NVIDIA GeForce NOW, Google Stadia and Utomik, Samsung is offering a selection of games beloved by gamers available on demand.

However, the benefits don’t stop there — the time, money and hassle involved with buying compatible equipment for different consoles, and the lengthy process of installing and uninstalling games for the sake of storage space, are all resolved with the Samsung Gaming Hub.

▲ JunHo Hwang, Software R&D Lab of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics

“In the past, we had to buy a separate gear to play exclusive games,” said Junho Hwang. “What’s more, gamers who bought the DL (downloaded) version of games had to delete previously installed games often to secure enough storage to install new ones.”

“However, with the Samsung Gaming Hub, users can explore and play games offered by our various partner companies without buying a separate console,” said Hwang. “Since games are streamed, users don’t need to worry about storage space or installation time at all.”

▲ Jay Park, GEM PM of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics

This makes the gaming industry, as anyone can play and enjoy CPU-intensive games, even without a PC. “The Samsung Gaming Hub provides games on the cloud, so users don’t need to worry about minimum system requirements or recommended configurations,” said Jay Park. “With the low latency mode and AI upscaling, we’ve improved performance and resolution, which are the most important aspects of cloud gaming.”

Stream Xbox Straight to Your TV

The news that surprised gamers the most this year was the collaboration agreement between Samsung Electronics and Microsoft. Through the partnership, Samsung’s Gaming Hub became the world’s first Smart platform to include the Xbox app. This means that 2022 Samsung Smart TV user can enjoy Xbox-exclusive games without having to buy a console.

▲ Juyeon Park, GEM PM of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics

“I’ve been a gamer since I was a kid in elementary school, so this has been the most enjoyable and exciting project for me. I hope many gamers will feel free to play these games without worrying about buying gear,” said Juyeon Park.

Top Video Game Picks From Samsung Developers

As more and more at home gamers turn to playing games on large, high-resolution screens, we wanted to know — what are the best games to play on Samsung Smart TVs?

Hwang recommends “It Takes Two,” a game where the main characters, Cody and May, work as a couple and try to escape a fantasy world and return to Rose, their daughter. “The storyline has to do with family, and it’s also not so difficult to play either,” said Hwang. “It’s a fun game to play with family members who are new to video games.”

For solo players, Jay Park recommends “Forza Horizon 5,” a racing game chosen by more than 10 million gamers. “The game takes place in Mexico, so it’s great for enjoying the natural scenery abroad. You can also play with expensive cars without worrying about taking care of them, so it’s quite cathartic,” said Park. “I’ve played this game while testing the Gaming Hub, and the time just flew by. I was so drawn into the experience.”

Fun for the Whole Family

These days, we live in a world where our TV instantly connects us to thrilling action movies, or up-to-date news from all over the world, anytime. While quality gear is important, what matters more to consumers is quality content.

“We came up with the idea of the Samsung Gaming Hub so that anyone, with their friends and family, could start playing games just as people naturally turn on a TV at home,” said Heej Chung. “I hope the Samsung Gaming Hub will be a starting point to deliver the joy of gaming for all users, not just gamers.”

The visionaries behind Samsung Gaming Hub also emphasized their determination to expand content experiences. “We’re going to keep adding more content and updating new features. We are just getting started, so we hope many people will show encouragement and interest so that this service can further develop.”

The Samsung Gaming Hub invites you to a new world of gaming. Stay tuned for more updates from the Samsung Newsroom learn what unfolds next in the Samsung Gaming Hub and tips on building your ideal at-home gaming station.

¹ Gaming Hub is available in the following countries/regions: U.S., Canada, U.K., Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Korea and Brazil.

“The Samsung Gaming Hub combines Samsung’s leadership in streaming technology with our experience in creating the industry’s most cutting-edge hardware, removing the barriers to entry so people can just play,” said Won-Jin Lee, President and Head of the Service Business Team at Samsung Electronics. “With expanding partnerships across leading game streaming services and expert curated recommendations, players will be able to easily browse and discover games from the widest selection available, regardless of platform.”

Where Gaming Comes Together

Powered by Tizen, Samsung Gaming Hub allows players to instantly access the games they love from industry-leading partners such as Xbox, NVIDIA GeForce NOW, Google Stadia, Utomik, and coming soon, Amazon Luna in addition to their gaming consoles and PC, all in one convenient place.² Players can use their favorite accessories, such as Bluetooth headsets and controllers with the Samsung Gaming Hub without the need to purchase new hardware — making it easier to access games than ever before. Additionally, users will be able to see expertly curated recommendations based on the latest and most popular games.

The Samsung Gaming Hub also seamlessly integrates music and streaming services to provide access to more entertainment options during gameplay, with easy connection to Twitch, YouTube and Spotify directly on the Gaming Hub experience menu. Players can get the latest gaming news, watch tutorials, play their favorite music and podcasts and view trailers from the most anticipated games all from the new and convenient Gaming Hub.

Streaming Innovation Meets Incredible Processor and Picture Quality

Players can also look forward to an amazing gaming experience thanks to advanced motion enhancements and latency reducing technology across Samsung’s 2022 Smart TV lineup and 2022 Smart Monitor Series. Samsung’s latest lineups introduce faster decoding and optimized buffer control technology which reduces the input lag by more than an average of 30 percent compared to the previous models.

Additionally, Samsung’s latest AI upscaling technology optimizes game graphics, providing incredible 4K and 8K resolution with high color accuracy and sharpness.

For more details, visit the Samsung Gaming Hub page.

¹ Gaming Hub is available in the following countries/regions: US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Korea and Brazil.
² Service availability for partners may vary by region.