I replaced my Xbox with a smart TV, and it went better than I expected

Can a TV replace your video game console?

That’s a question Samsung has flirted with for over the past two years. It started with the reveal of Samsung Gaming Hub, a handy smart TV widget that brought several cloud streaming apps together. With it, anyone with a recent Samsung TV could instantly cloud stream games from Amazon Luna, GeForce Now, and, crucially, Xbox Game Pass. Samsung is even doubling down this year with the introduction of exclusive games that can be played with nothing more than a TV and phone. There’s a very real world in which someone could not own a single console and still have access to an enormous library of games.

But how viable is that? Can you really lead a full gaming life entirely through your TV? After years of curiosity, I finally gave that a try for myself. I bought a Samsung TV for my new home office and quickly immersed myself in the Gaming Hub ecosystem. Though there’s no chance it’ll change my gaming setup long term, I’m starting to see where the extra flexibility could weave into my routines — even if it’s not always the ideal way to play.

Gaming on a TV

My experiment would begin when I moved into a new railroad-style apartment and converted a narrow middle room into a home office. I decided that I’d want to move all of my gaming consoles into that room so it would be easier to jump over to them during the workday, leaving an Xbox Series S on my living room TV as a streaming app box. To complete my office setup, I’d need a new TV. After kicking around some options, I decided to go with a 55-inch 2022 Samsung TV primarily so I could have access to Gaming Hub.

After getting it set up and poking around the app, I decided to take a week to try to live in Samsung’s gaming ecosystem. Rather than hooking up my consoles, I’d exclusively do my home gaming through what was available through Gaming Hub (I’d still use my Steam Deck and Switch for portable play as my TV couldn’t replace those experiences). The first step of my journey was