Samsung PlayGalaxy Link Beta Begins: What You Need To Know
It probably was never a secret that Samsung was getting ready to take on the game streaming market in a slightly different way. Until today, however, it wasn't exactly formal nor actually available to use. After months of unofficial news, Samsung is finally flipping the switch and starting the beta testing phase for PlayGalaxy Link and the company confirms some good news for those without a Galaxy Note 10 to use for the unique take on gaming on the go.
PlayGalaxy Link isn't completely new technology and builds on the game streaming tech developed by Parsec. In a nutshell, it combines two slightly different concepts of game streaming. On the one hand, you have the likes of Google Stadia or NVIDIA GeForce NOW what runs the game on a remote data center somewhere and streams the data to your device anywhere you are. On the other hand, there's Valve's Steam Link that streams the games you already own and have installed on your PC but only through your local network.
PlayGalaxy Link almost offers the best of both worlds. Like Valve's solution, you have ownership of the game and don't have to re-buy titles you already own or pay for a service when you already have a gaming-worthy computer. At the same time, like Stadia, it doesn't limit you to your Wi-Fi at home (although you can definitely use that for best results) and lets you access games on 4G or, better yet, 5G networks.
It's not without its costs, of course, both figurative and literal. You will naturally need a Windows 10 computer with enough muscle to run those games smoothly in the first place. Fortunately, it isn't dependent on a particular graphics card, unlike NVIDIA's GeForce NOW. The heaviest requirement, however, is the network connection, both at home and more importantly when outside. That also implies you have no data caps because it will definitely eat up your bandwidth.
As already widely-known (by those following Samsung news), PlayGalaxy Link is being made available on the Galaxy Note 10. The good news is that Samsung will be bringing it to more phones next month, including the Galaxy Fold, Galaxy S9, Galaxy Note9, and Galaxy A90. Of course, it's still in beta and anything can change before the final version rolls out, including, hopefully not, pulling the plug on it.