Samsung phones will lose Google Stadia rival PlayGalaxy later this month

When Samsung PlayGalaxy Link launched its beta a few months back, it was admittedly with little fanfare – but the announcement of the game streaming service’s incoming closure has been even more quiet.

Loading up the PlayGalaxy website now presents an apologetic notification for the service, stating that, “After many difficult discussions, PlayGalaxy Link will be ended on 27 March 2020 due to internal policy changes.”

PlayGalaxy Link had been launched as a cloud gaming service exclusive to Samsung Galaxy smartphone, though we largely assumed it would roll out to other Android phone ranges in the future. Back when Fortnite first launched on Android, Samsung Galaxy handsets were the first to get it, and we didn’t expect Samsung would restrict the audience of the platform forever.

Either way, PlayGalaxy Link is closing, so any Samsung Galaxy owners who had signed up to the beta will lose access to the service after March 27, as per the announcement.

• Samsung phone: how to choose your handset
• How to download and play Call of Duty: Warzone
• Check out the best smartphones, bar none

Loud and cloud

It’s unclear exactly what’s being referred to by “internal policy changes”, but it’s likely that PlayGalaxy Link became less of a priority for the electronics manufacturer given the momentum of its competition.

It’s a tough time to be launching a game streaming service, to be fair. Google Stadia is taking up the attention of most gamers interested in a dedicated streaming service, with the existing PS Now platform and Microsoft’s in-the-works Project xCloud offering plenty of other avenues to play games through the cloud.

While PlayGalaxy Link never made it out of beta, it’s clear that cloud gaming is very much here to stay.

• Check out our Google Stadia review

Via GameSpot