Well done Samsung (and Valve)! After making the xclud app exclusive for your brand and once the abk deal was done for Microsoft it's time to take away the competition, yes the Steam Link app will no longer be available on Samsung TV after November 30th 2023 and will be likely automatically uninstalled from our TVs just to mess with us consumers, better be prepared for antitrust and class actions lawsuits for both the suspicious timing and for taking away an advertised TV feature
EDIT:
In chronological order the steam link app was made by Samsung with a third party dev and collaboration from Valve 2016(+) and was heavily advertised as a Samsung TV feature. Once a deal was made with Microsoft for the xcloud TV exclusive the steam link app was put on support only and not available on models from that year 2022(+) and onwards. After the two years and actively sabotaging the Steam link app with the volume on the right stick thing and forcing the TV OS home menu on the controller home key the app will be now forcebly removed from our TV even if it could work perfectly fine a few days before the abk deal was made... So Microsoft needs gamepass user now and Samsung will help while Valve does not care for us
We have long known that the Smart TV app ecosystem cannot be trusted. But I sincerely believe that this time a very important line has been crossed, not only is it a slap in the face to your customers by withdrawing support for an app in just a few years, it is an app that is part of the feature set with which these TVs were sold to us.
Don't believe the lies, this app was developed under contract and at Samsung's request by a trusted third party of the South Korean brand. For that reason the marketing department included the functionality as a feature of these TVs. Valve only provided the necessary technical support to be able to integrate with their services correctly.
It is not just another app that is left without support just a couple of years after acquiring the TV (something that unfortunately we are getting used to and is a regrettable practice), but it is a slap in the face of Samsung to all its customers.
For me, and surely for many other users of this forum will be the last time they have our confidence.
