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
Oh for the sake. Probably the last Samsung Tv. The menu lags like crazy and now you remove the best thing in the tv. Will you remove Netflix as well? I mean, you have 2 feet you can blow up...
The "Steam Link" application on Samsung TVs has not been developed by Valve but by the company "Handstudio Co. Ltd." which is a recognized technology partner of Samsung. In other words, the application was commissioned under contract by Samsung itself to the said company. I am commenting this to clarify the situation and to make it clear where our complaints should be directed.
As others have commented this is not just another application, but one that was directly pushed and prominently promoted by Samsung itself throughout last year. In fact the page relating to this feature of Samsung Smart TVs is still available.
If this is the degree of accountability and customer support that can be expected from Samsung then it is clear that this will be my last product from this brand.
It has long been common knowledge that TV brands cannot be trusted to support the apps they include on their TVs and that the natural path is to migrate to devices that support Google TV. This undoubtedly helps greatly to strengthen that position.
While I'm not sure a class action suit will get anywhere due to the disclaimers they've posted on their advertisements, this is definitely a move on Samsung's part and I will not be buying another Samsung TV in the future.
If anyone from Samsung is reading this, you are alienating a very loyal base of customers with this decision. At the very least the app should remain available as is.
Why the is this being done? Why are you taking away features from your TVs, Samsung? I'll really have to have a good long think about whether a Samsung device is the right choice for my next purchase if this is the kind of thing I can expect.
No more recommending or buying samsung TV's purely based on the handy steam link app. Such a shame, I guess I'll be jumping ship to LG now once they get native support for the newer steam link app
This is one of the worst experiences I've ever had from a tech company. The ads popping up were one thing, and now this. I likely never buy another Samsung TV.
I'm so disappointed that this is happening. I purchased my Samsung TV exclusively because of this feature. Taking this feature away will have a huge negative impact in my household, as I gather with my family to play through Steam Link. If this moves forward, they've lost me
