Warning: Colleagues Are Unusually Likely To 'break' Their Monitors Soon

Microsoft and Samsung have teamed to stream Xbox games on the Korean giant's smart televisions and monitors.

Samsung has offered streaming games since early 2022, taking advantage of its smart displays running the Linux-based Tizen OS. The "gaming hub" installed on those devices can already deliver games from Google Stadia and Nvidia GeForce Now.

Xbox is a rather larger brand, making this deal considerably more significant.

Only Samsung smart tellies and monitors from 2022 can stream Xbox games, and they'll only do it for holders of an Xbox Game Pass – although Fortnite can be played without a subscription. Numerous Bluetooth-equipped gaming controllers will connect wirelessly to the smart displays.

All those pre-2022 monitors are awfully nice, though. It would be a pity if anything … happened to them. Oops.

Samsung's 2022 M8 Smart Monitor is a 32-incher listed at $699.99 and includes Microsoft Office, plus streaming video apps, and a webcam. It's billed as capable of substituting for a PC once keyboard and mouse are connected. Microsoft's low-end Xbox Series S sells for $289.99 and the higher-end Xbox X costs $499. Both need an external display. While either one costs less than the M8, in your correspondent's opinion a Samsung monitor has become an alternative worth exploring for those contemplating the purchase of a gaming console.

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And maybe even for businesses looking to show their work-from-home staff a little love, because Samsung smart tellies and monitors allow remote access to PCs and are equipped with browsers that could run cloudy desktops.

Accessing Xbox games on a Samsung screen requires an app that the Korean giant says behaves like the streaming video apps it offers for popular subscription services.

This deal expands the reach of Xbox into many homes and situations where a dedicated gaming console might not be welcome.

That’s doubtless got Microsoft excited, because the console market enjoys strong sales in the year or three after the release of new hardware but then goes quiet. Microsoft's legendary nagware – Go on, please give Edge another try, and log on to OneDrive while you're at it – surely has a role reminding us all that new gaming possibilities abound.

AMD might be less excited. It's done well making custom CPUs for consoles, and they could sell in smaller quantities if tellies become a more common way of consuming games. ®