Samsung launches PlayGalaxy Link streaming service.

Users can stream games running on their PCs to their Samsung devices.

The service is virtually identical to Valve’s existing Steam Link and Remote Play feature.

Samsung has announced a brand new game streaming service, dubbed PlayGalaxy Link. While it may look like the Korean tech giant is squaring up to the recently launched Google Stadia, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

PlayGalaxy Link appears to be nothing short of a thinly-veiled copy of Valve’s existing Steam Link feature.

What Is PlayGalaxy Link?

Here’s how Samsung describes the new service:

The new service goes beyond cloud gaming, which has dominated the industry in 2019, by allowing you to stream your game library to your device if you already have a powerful PC. With PlayGalaxy Link, Samsung is achieving a new level of gaming, enabling you to create a customizable streaming experience by connecting the Galaxy Note10 to your own powerful PC and the games you already own.

Samsung says the service uses the PlayGalaxy Link app and a peer to peer connection established through Wi-Fi or 4G/5G to link up the PC and phone alongside Adaptive FPS tech. The combination allegedly cuts down on lag and latency, even when sketchy network coverage rears its head.

From what we understand, it’s compatible with all games. These are added manually to the app, or the service can automatically search a PC for them.

PlayGalaxy Link rolls out first to Samsung’s Galaxy Note10 and Galaxy S10. A beta is available from the Galaxy Store right now. Support for Galaxy Fold, Galaxy S9, Galaxy Note9, and Galaxy A90 phones arrives next month.

Steam Link But Worse

Down to the name, this is more or less a carbon copy of Steam Link and the Remote Play Anywhere feature, which has been around since 2015 in its most basic iteration.

Steam Link runs a game on a PC before streaming it to a broader range of devices, including phone, TV, tablet, or even another PC.

What Samsung is hoping to achieve is unclear when an identical service with a proven track record already exists.

Sure, it’s nice that Samsung’s controller is designed to fit its phones. But other than that, there’s very little incentive for players to jump onto PlayGalaxy Link.