Samsung will reportedly launch cloud gaming within the Samsung Game Launcher at its developer conference this week, reports the Korea Economic Daily.
The service has been in beta since August and, unlike the majority of streaming services which offer players the chance to play PC and console titles on a variety of devices, is specifically targeted at mobile games.
Speaking to VentureBeat in August, Samsung vice president and head of gaming services Jong Hyuk Woo stated that “90% of the people who have expressed interest in a game publisher’s content, via an ad, don’t actually ever get into the game. We believe that cloud streaming can do something for mobile game publishers by completely collapsing that user acquisition funnel, getting rid of the download and installing and the visit to the App Store. It can dramatically reduce that funnel and the inefficiencies within that model.”
In short, Samsung seemingly hopes that its unique approach to cloud streaming will allow it to streamline user acquisition.
Every cloud has a silver lining
The Verge reports that Samsung is having a rough year financially, despite selling more than a billion more units than Apple in the last ten years. Recent years have seen Samsung on the slide and July 2023 saw Apple overtake Samsung as the market leader, with a 28.39% market share compared to 24.22% for Samsung. With Apple seemingly going all in on offering console-quality experiences on mobile with the new chips in it's Pro model phones, it appears that Samsung’s plan - at least for now - is to double down on mobile gaming via streaming means.
Will the move prove successful? That remains to be seen. One struggle Apple may face with its new ambitions is different user interfaces of mobile, console, and PC and, while peripherals such as the Backbone are becoming more and more common, many users prefer an unencumbered touch-screen experience. Games designed specifically for mobile are built to take advantage of the unique features of phones. Meanwhile requiring 500Gb+ of phone space to download a full 'console' game and the potential of console level price tags such games may attract, could give a neater, cheaper streaming option - albeit with less power in the handset itself - the edge.
Last month, Samsung was identified as one of the 26 app store providers in compliance with China’s latest regulations.
