LAS VEGAS — The gaming industry has long been the epitome of fragmentation – mobile gamers on tiny screens, console enthusiasts locked into expensive hardware, and PC players tethered to their desks. Now a new platform aims to unite them all on the largest screen in the house.

PHYND is betting that the smart TV already sitting in most living rooms can become the next major gaming platform, no console required. The subscription-free, ad-supported cloud gaming service streams games directly to televisions, opening up what the company sees as a massive untapped audience.

“Everybody already knows that gaming is the largest medium in media and entertainment,” said André Swanston, chairman and CEO of PHYND, in this video interview with Beet.TV’s Lisa Granatstein at CES 2026. “However, if you think about it, gaming is fragmented.”

Magnite deal brings programmatic advertising to cloud gaming

The company used CES to announce a global partnership with Magnite, the independent sell-side advertising platform. Under the deal, Magnite will serve as PHYND’s programmatic partner for its SSP, while SpringServe will handle ad serving.

For Swanston, the partnership represents something of a homecoming. His previous company, Tru Optik, which patented the concept of the household graph, worked with SpotX and SpringServe before those companies merged to form Magnite.

“There was really no other thought that we had in terms of who would be our kind of first partner to launch with,” Swanston said. “What we’ll allow is for brands and agencies to target consumers while they’re playing premium games on a smart TV with the same data, the same targeting parameters, the same measurement, the same identity that they can do across any sort of connected TV buy.”

Smart TV penetration dwarfs console ownership

The math behind PHYND’s strategy is straightforward. In the United States, smart TV penetration sits at roughly 80% of households. Console and gaming PC penetration? Just 40%.

The gap widens dramatically in international markets. Smart TV adoption stands at 50% and growing, while console and gaming PC ownership hovers around 20%. That disparity represents hundreds of millions of potential gamers who currently lack access to premium gaming experiences.

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“The thing that we’re really excited about is when you talk about who has a smart TV in your home, you’re really talking about virtually everybody,” Swanston said. The cloud gaming market overall is projected to experience the highest growth among gaming platforms, according to eMarketer research, with companies like Netflix also venturing into the space.

No more small-screen compromises

PHYND has already announced a partnership with Samsung and plans to reveal additional TV manufacturer deals in coming weeks. Swanston indicated that “any OEM or manufacturer of any real significance or scale” would eventually work with the platform.

The service accommodates multiple input methods to reach different player types. Hyper-casual games work with a standard TV remote or smartphone. More traditional titles support Bluetooth or Wi-Fi-connected gamepads.

“We’re not talking about kind of the previous generation of games that may be available on a smart TV a decade ago,” Swanston said. “We’re talking about console quality in terms of the graphics, the speed, the responsiveness.”

Social gaming across devices

Beyond accessibility, PHYND is emphasizing interoperability between different TV platforms. Players on Samsung televisions can compete against friends using LG sets or other devices.

“A lot of gaming is social, and that’s what makes the experience fun, whether it’s locally in your home and being able to play with your friends and your family, or it’s being able to play with people online across other devices,” Swanston said.

To serve its diverse potential audience, the company has built a library spanning hyper-casual titles, family-friendly games, and traditional console-style experiences. That variety, Swanston argued, creates opportunities for advertisers seeking to reach consumers in “pretty much the most highly engaged form of media that they can.”

You’re watching Beet.TV coverage from CES 2026. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.

By Robert Andrews on    @robertandrews