Connectivity and ecosystem. Those are two things we continue to discuss because that’s where the future of gaming is headed. It seems that Xbox could be taking yet another step towards expanding their offering in the very near future.
Samsung is touting Samsung Access for their new TVs which will offer consumers a selection of a free premium subscription service with their purchase. Some familiar offerings are available such as Showtime, YouTube TV, and Sling TV. But also featured is Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Per the Samsung website:
“With Samsung Access, you get your choice of a streaming or gaming service (up to a $120 value), included at no additional cost. Choose from Showtime, Sling TV, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, YouTube Music Premium, YouTube Premium or YouTube TV.”
According to the expanded details on the site, as of this moment this seems to be merely giving consumers a free subscription to the service. Whether or not this will eventually culminate in an agreement for direct connectivity to Game Pass via xCloud is anybody’s guess. But the prospect is certainly intriguing.
Other companies are taking similar paths of course including services like Apple Arcade, PlayStation Now on select TVs, and Google with Stadia.
Our Take
This is a rather big play for Xbox given that Samsung is one of the biggest distributors of TVs in the world. At this time it’s just another way for Xbox to offer their ecosystem to consumers. However, given the capabilities of xCloud and the future of instant connectivity, we can certainly see this as the first step of a longer play to provide direct access to the Xbox service.
This was expected. They’ll be in a lot more living rooms because of this.