Everybody is getting in on the streaming game, and it looks like Korean electronics giant Samsung is the latest to enter the fray.
The company just filed paperwork for a streaming games service that would provide both traditional games and, more importantly, virtual reality titles as well.
As for what this means for the future of VR, it could be a bigger deal than you might first think.
You might have heard of the Google Stadia, the search engine’s attempt at a streaming home console, but you might also know about the major moves by other console manufacturers to move to a streaming and hardware hybrid platform in the near future.
This is because a lot of people think streaming is the future and that fancy hardware will soon give way to offsite servers.
When you consider the potential such a move would have for VR, the implications become quite momentous.
And Samsung wants to be there on the ground floor, day one.
According to Patently Apple, this is in response to Apple’s big move into the gaming space with its subscription service.
The new program apparently placed a lot of pressure on Samsung to follow up in kind.
Samsung occupies a unique position among Android users as it is almost maintains its own, separate ecosystem.
A big part of that are Samsung’s related projects, some of which include VR.
The patent paperwork describes a service that offers “electronic games services provided by means of the internet; Gaming services, namely, conducting online computer game tournaments; Gaming services, namely, virtual reality game services provided on-line from a computer network.”
As Patently Apple theorizes, “PlayGalaxy Link will provide Samsung with some selling ammunition for their new Note phone and likely update to their Gear VR headset in an effort to compete with Apple’s 2019 iDevice line-up with Arcade. Samsung is likely to play up their 5G phones being ideal for their new gaming service.”
Samsung hasn’t made any official announcements yet but a lot of signs are pointing to the above being the case.
Plus, Samsung has flirted with a bigger presence in gaming in the past.
The company just has never actually made good on any of its big plans.
Still, the Android games ecosystem is pretty huge and the addition of VR to the streaming service would make it a must-have for some gamers.
But, above that, it could represent a philosophical shift that will enable other manufacturers to look at what they can do in VR with streaming.
If you will recall, a lot of the challenges with VR headsets centers on the need for powerful hardware in a small, preferably wireless, headset.
Cutting most of that out and just having a robust, lightweight headset is almost the thing of sci-fi legends.
Yet it could be the thing that VR needs to go to the next level.
As usual, we’ll update you with any news as soon as we receive it.
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