LG wants to turn your Smart TV into an Xbox, announces cloud gaming partnership with Microsoft

Chances are that, like me, you've been unable to escape the chorus of 'This is an Xbox.' This insistent marketing campaign touts the cloud-based future Microsoft is striving for with Xbox, moving away from the console-based core of yore towards a platform that can play with almost any stage. Well, it's time to add one more venue to the list: LG Smart TVs.

LG has announced a partnership that will specifically bring cloud gaming to their smart TVs via the Xbox app, promising "access to hundreds of games." As you may already suspect, the price of entry is a Game Pass membership, with LG particularly keen to highlight the Ultimate-tier in their announcement. This $19.99 a month subscription tier will offer the option to "stream a catalog of select Xbox games [you already] own" to your LG Smart TV, as well as access to "highly anticipated releases like Avowed" at launch. However, the full details of this partnership with Xbox dreams a little bigger than a single app announcement.

Additionally, those with one of LG's newest Smart TVs will have access to the Gaming Portal. LG pitches this as a "versatile, gaming centric hub…designed as an all-in-one solution for seamless navigation and personalized gaming, both for the latest AAA games and casual webOS app games."

To me, this suggests LG's cloud gaming dreams don't end with Xbox. For example, I recently wrote about Nvidia's long-awaited, finally announced dedicated GeForce Now app coming to Steam Decks later this year. It hardly seems like a stretch for LG to get chatting with Nvidia about bringing their cloud gaming subscription service to their Smart TVs too.

Theorising aside, the announcement's emphasis wasn't just on ease of use, with those aforementioned webOS app games "playable with the remote controller," but also discoverability. Though I've not yet seen little of LG's Smart TV Gaming portal, attempting to balance "cloud gaming apps, the top 10 most popular games, editor’s picks, and other tailored, user-friendly gaming experiences," leads me to suspect yet another crowded UI.

I'm already struggling with the non-problem of 'too much to play'—now my Smart TV's promising the same sort of decision paralysis that effectively ended my Netflix subscription.

Still, so long as the intended audience's internet connection can support streaming, bringing cloud gaming to Smart TVs seems like a no-brainer. Though still an expensive TV for many, chances are that it's a cost some will prioritise over splashing out on either a separate, full-price console or gaming PC, and that's an audience Xbox understandably wants to properly introduce itself to. Microsoft is simply joining up the dots on 'This is an Xbox.'

Anyway, I have a confession to make: yes, it was tempting to kick this news post off with a quip to the tune of "See this can of Monster? That's an Xbox," but I thought better of it. In the spirit of sharing, I also decided against this old groaner: "See my chicken hutch? That's an eggs-box." You're welcome.