Many older Samsung smart TVs can now run cloud gaming apps like Xbox Game Pass, GeForce Now, and more — allowing users to play modern games like Starfield, CyberPunk 2077, and more without a console. The news comes after Samsung promised in August that it would bring the option to millions of living rooms worldwide by sending its version 2500.0 update to 2020 model-year TVs.
Samsung’s supported cloud gaming apps on older TVs include Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass, Nvidia’s GeForce Now (currently in beta on 2020 models), and Amazon’s Luna. It also includes the smaller and less known services Utomik, Antstream Arcade, and Blacknut Cloud Gaming. These apps can be downloaded individually on 2020 and 2021 TVs worldwide, without the Samsung Gaming Hub experience available on newer TVs.
Samsung is also announcing today that it’s adding another cloud streaming service called Boosteroid to its Gaming Hub interface on 2022 and newer TVs. Boosteroid lets you run games you own from other platforms like Steam, Epic Games Store, Battle.net, and more on a remote high-end PC — and it offers Call of Duty, too, thanks to a recent deal with Microsoft.
Gaming Hub for Samsung TVs, smart monitors, and projectors first launched in 2022, and the apps were individually later added to 2021 TV models. Samsung’s cloud gaming offerings are reasonably extensive and worked well enough when we tested them on one of its newer TVs. It’s not necessarily a good enough solution that you can toss your console, but if you don’t have a console or want gaming in other rooms of the house, then this could be a solid workaround.
Services available on the company’s Gaming Hub can fluctuate over time, like the loss of support for Steam Link last month, so it’s not quite a one-stop shop. Other manufacturers like LG have also added support for cloud gaming apps, like GeForce Now, on older TV models as well.
Update November 14th, 2023 2:15PM ET: Updated to clarify that Samsung’s Gaming Hub interface and new Boosteroid app are unavailable on pre-2022 Smart TVs.
