Samsung's PlayGalaxy Link game-streaming app is coming to an end — and it hasn't even left beta yet. Surprisingly, it seems that is likely the result of a partnership between Microsoft and Samsung.
PlayGalaxy Link is, simply put, a way to play your PC games on a mobile device comparable to Steam Link or Rainway. Unlike some of the services in this space, however, it didn't rely on external servers or anything of the sort to play games; rather, it directly transmitted data from your PC to your mobile device over wifi or another kind of data link.
The service also prominently highlighted the glap, a gaming controller for Android devices. This gaming controller was one of several devices that made it easier to game on Android, although it was not required to make use of Samsung's streaming service.
A beta had been ongoing for several months, but it seems that it will be coming to a premature end. As The Verge reported back in February, Microsoft has teamed up with Samsung to work on cloud-based streaming. Citing "internal policy changes' in a Gamasutra article, Samsung has decided to shut down its homegrown game streaming service, possibly in favor of working on something in the same space with its new Microsoft partnership.
When Does PlayGalaxy Link End?
When will Samsung be shutting down PlayGalaxy Link? Unfortunately, it looks like there are only a couple of weeks left in its lifespan. The news is detailed in a popup on playgalaxy.com:
Thank you for playing and supporting PlayGalaxy Link throughout the beta period.
PlayGalaxy Link team hereby informs you of the end of service on 3/27/2020.
After many difficult discussions, PlayGalaxy Link will be ended on 27 March 2020 due to internal policy changes.
In any case, you can still download the app and try it out until the end date. From there, we're sure to see them cook up something interesting as part of this new Microsoft partnership.
Did you have a chance to try out PlayGalaxy Link? Which game streaming service do you think will come out on top? Let us know in the comments below!
