At CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Samsung announced a refresh of its Mobile Gaming Hub for smartphones to provide more personalized and faster ways to play games while emphasizing upcoming titles, as explained by Jong Woo, VP of Game Services, in an Engadget interview.
Samsung showcased new televisions, monitors, and additional hardware products during the event. The company simultaneously revealed updates to its Gaming Hub, targeting mobile devices. This studios-wide refresh aims to transform the platform into a central hub for the latest mobile games. The updated version launched immediately on Galaxy devices, with plans for subsequent enhancements. Jong Woo described the changes as a response to user demands for tailored content delivery.
The executive stated, “We believe that gamers want to find new content that is personalized to them.” He continued, “We want to bring content to users and make it immediately available for them to play. We have instant plays that, through our cloud-streaming technology, let us take Android-native games and put them in the cloud so that when users want to try them they don’t have to go through the friction of downloading them first.” This feature allows users to access games directly without installation, reducing barriers to entry for trial experiences.
Samsung reports that the Mobile Gaming Hub draws over 160 million users across smartphones and other devices. Despite this scale and the extensive library of games spanning various genres, Jong Woo asserted that “mobile game discovery is broken.” The platform previously functioned as a supplemental application for tracking purchased games, enabling users to monitor their collections. The refresh expands this role significantly.
Now, the hub aggregates all games acquired from Google Play and the Galaxy Store into one location. Users can view their owned titles, receive personalized recommendations, access cloud streaming for designated games, and watch video highlights produced by content creators. This consolidation positions the hub as a comprehensive management and discovery tool within the Samsung ecosystem.
The primary objective, according to Woo, centers on personalizing and guiding the mobile gaming experience. He contrasted this with the more structured discovery processes on PC and console platforms. Mobile gaming has lacked similar clarity in navigation and suggestion systems. Woo elaborated on user responses to the rebuild: “We’re getting a lot of feedback from the olhar, and what we’re finding is that we believe we’re solving pain points for mobile gamers.” He added, “We’re getting an idea of gamer preferences at the individual, personalized level. Based on all of that, we can provide different types of recommendations.” These insights derive from direct user interactions, informing algorithmic improvements for content curation.
Beyond individual personalization, the updates seek to build a community encompassing players and developers. The hub incorporates sharing of YouTube videos alongside content from gaming creators and streamers. Samsung intends to introduce additional social features. Woo highlighted the inherent isolation of mobile play: “Mobile is a very personal experience, right? It’s your personal device, and oftentimes when you play games on mobile it feels like a solitary experience.” These elements aim to counteract that by promoting interaction and shared experiences within the app.
Availability remains limited to Galaxy smartphones and tablets at present. Owners of non-Galaxy devices continue using the prior iteration of the hub. Samsung positions this refresh amid broader industry efforts. Platforms like Steam and PlayStation Network on PC and consoles offer established engagement models, serving as benchmarks. Mobile equivalents have primarily acted as intermediaries directing users to individual products, despite substantial audiences.
The Mobile Gaming Hub’s evolution addresses these gaps by centralizing functions. Cloud streaming enables instant access to Android-native titles, bypassing downloads. Recommendation engines leverage user data for precise suggestions. Community tools integrate external content sources. With 160 million users already engaged, the platform processes vast amounts of play data to refine personalization. Galaxy-exclusive rollout ensures optimized performance on Samsung hardware, incorporating native integrations with stores and streaming tech. Ongoing feedback loops from users shape iterative updates, targeting discovery challenges in mobile’s fragmented ecosystem.
