Xbox expands cloud gaming service to Samsung smart TVs

Microsoft on Thursday announced that the ability to play Xbox games will be built into Samsung smart televisions in its latest cloud gaming move. Microsoft is considered the streaming video game heavyweight with its Xbox Game Pass service and large community of players who use its consoles and desktop computers.

And while the U.S. tech titan makes Xbox video game consoles, it has been leading a shift to letting people play titles on internet-linked devices of their choosing with titles hosted in the cloud. "We're on a quest to bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone on the planet, and bringing the Xbox app to smart TVs is another step in making our vision a reality," Microsoft Gaming chief Phil Spencer said in a post.

Microsoft had already made some Xbox games available for play on Samsung Galaxy smartphones. An Xbox application will become part of a gaming hub on 2022 model Samsung smart televisions in 27 countries at the end of this month, the South Korean consumer electronics giant said.

Players will need to wirelessly connect video game controllers to televisions using Bluetooth. The more than 100 titles available for streaming at the Xbox Game Pass subscription service will include Halo Infinite, Hades and Forza Horizon 5, according to the companies.

Hit video game "Fortnite" will be available to play free, said Ashley McKissick, a corporate vice president at Microsoft. "We created Xbox Game Pass and continue expanding Cloud Gaming to new devices so that we can open up the ways people can play across the devices they already own: PC, console, mobile, tablet devices, and now Smart TVs," McKissick said.

Amazon early this year launched its Luna video game streaming service for the general public in the United States, aiming to expand its multi-pronged empire into the booming gaming industry. Luna allows players to access games directly online with no need for a console as part of the cloud gaming technology that is seen as a future direction of the industry.

Luna takes on Microsoft and PlayStation-maker Sony as well as Stadia fielded by Google. Microsoft catapulted itself into the big league in one of the world's most lucrative markets early this year by announcing a $69 billion deal to take over video game maker Activision Blizzard -- the biggest acquisition in the sector's history.