Samsung rebrands Game Launcher on Galaxy phones to Gaming Hub for mobile

Samsung smartphones are really popular across the world. While they aren’t explicitly marketed as gaming smartphones, plenty of them will serve you well enough for both casual and more serious gaming. Samsung has now announced that its Game Launcher app on Galaxy smartphones has been rebranded to Gaming Hub and is using the opportunity to highlight its cloud-gaming-enabled Instant Plays feature once again.

The Game Launcher has long existed on One UI on Galaxy smartphones, serving as a central location where you can access all the games on your phone. It was a bit redundant in functioning, as you could also launch games through their own icons in your standard app launcher. Game Launcher has already included Instant Plays game streaming for a few years now, but Samsung is talking more about the feature at game conferences these days.

The app has now been rebranded into the Gaming Hub for mobile, bringing the branding in line with the Samsung Gaming Hub branding found on Samsung TVs, monitors, and projectors. Samsung says that Gaming Hub for mobile is currently in beta with a select number of games and continues to house the Game Launcher features. However, as mentioned, Game Launcher already supported Instant Plays at least two years ago, so we’re not sure what is new apart from the rebranding.

As part of the announcement, Samsung is highlighting its game-streaming approach. Instant Plays game streaming within Gaming Hub for mobile allows users to play games without needing to install them. The feature is in limited beta in the US and Canada. Samsung’s cloud platform supports native Android APKs and has plenty of tools and in-game monetization models for game developers that would make it worth their attention.

Have you tried out Instant Plays on your Samsung Galaxy smartphone? Let us know your experience in the comments below!