GDC 2026: How Samsung and Global Game Studios Are Redefining the Game Experience
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By Samsung Newsroom
Samsung Electronics today shared its plan to expand support for glasses-free 3D gameplay on the Samsung Odyssey 3D gaming monitor. At GDC Festival of Gaming 2026 in San Francisco, Samsung will spotlight Hell Is Us and Cronos: The New Dawn as part of its expanding 3D gaming ecosystem, demonstrating how leading titles are embracing immersive display without the need for special glasses.
“The Odyssey 3D is designed for gamers who want to experience their hobby in a way that feels like they’re completely embedded in the action,” said Kevin Lee, Executive Vice President of the Visual Display (VD) Business at Samsung Electronics. “Through partnerships with leading gaming studios, we are committed to creating an ecosystem of top-tier titles, making great games extraordinary.”
Gaming’s Most Acclaimed Titles Become Fully Immersive 3D Experiences — Expanding Partnerships With Leading Developers
Hell Is Us, the critically acclaimed action-adventure horror game from Rogue Factor, will arrive on Samsung’s Odyssey 3D ecosystem in March, becoming a part of the first wave of newly added 3D-enabled titles for 2026.
Cronos: The New Dawn, developed by Bloober Team, will join this expanding 3D gaming library by the end of the year. This survival horror game, which has received generally positive reviews from critics, will provide an immersive gaming experience by integrating with the 3D technology.
Both titles will be playable in 3D through the Samsung Odyssey 3D Hub, the company’s dedicated 3D content platform, which already supports over 60 titles.
In addition to 3D gaming technology, Samsung offers HDR10+ GAMING, which delivers optimized HDR performance to each game by automatically analyzing each scene and frame, thereby enhancing immersion. Since 2022, the company has integrated HDR10+ GAMING into its Odyssey gaming monitors and TVs featuring refresh rates above 120Hz.
Samsung has partnered with top video game studio CD PROJEKT RED as part of its commitment to advancing display technology alongside leading developers.
This collaboration will explore how technology can be advanced to increase the immersion of video games for players, and Samsung is already working with CD PROJEKT RED to integrate HDR10+ GAMING into its hit video game Cyberpunk 2077.
Additionally, Samsung announced the expansion of its HDR10+ GAMING partnership with Pearl Abyss. HDR10+ GAMING will be featured in Pearl Abyss’s upcoming open-world action-adventure game Crimson Desert, set to launch in March, ensuring gamers enjoy a premium HDR experience.
The Full Odyssey Experience Comes to GDC 2026
At GDC 2026, Samsung will host hands-on demo sessions for journalists and industry experts to gain an up-close look at its latest Odyssey monitors and an opportunity to play Hell Is Us in 3D before the public.
The demo sessions will feature Samsung’s Odyssey gaming monitor lineup:
27-inch Odyssey 3D (G90XF model): Glasses-free 3D gaming with advanced eye-tracking that delivers natural-looking depth and makes action jump off the screen. This glasses-free 3D gaming monitor will expand the lineup with the launch of a 32-inch model by the end of the year. 32-inch Odyssey OLED G8 (G80SH model): Stunning 4K QD-OLED at 240Hz with exceptional color and contrast, protected by Samsung OLED Safeguard+ technology. 32-inch Odyssey G8 (G80HS model): The industry’s first 6K gaming monitor, delivering native 165Hz performance with Dual Mode support up to 330Hz in 3K. This model also offers VESA-certified DisplayPort 2.1 (DP 2.1) connectivity, which supports smooth gaming and efficient video playback. 27-inch Odyssey G6 (G60H model): The world’s first 1,040Hz gaming monitor with Dual Mode, delivering esports-level motion clarity and responsiveness.
Odyssey 3D: Glasses-Free Gaming at Its Peak
While previous 3D approaches required either special glasses or sacrificed performance, the Odyssey 3D is a groundbreaking gaming monitor that delivers stunning 3D gameplay without compromise. Using advanced Eye Tracking and View Mapping technology, the monitor requires no glasses. It adjusts the 3D depth of the scene in response to the viewer’s position in real time, ensuring an optimized 3D effect.
Combined with a 165Hz refresh rate and 1ms GtG response time, the Odyssey 3D delivers smooth, responsive gameplay, resulting in a 3D effect that holds even during fast camera movement, gunfights and high-speed traversal — without the eye strain traditionally associated with 3D displays.
The addition of Hell Is Us and Cronos: The New Dawn expands Samsung’s 3D gaming library, which currently supports more than 60 titles — including The First Berserker: Khazan, Stellar Blade, Lies of P: Overture and MONGIL: STAR DIVE. With these additions, the company’s selection of 3D games is on track to reach over 120 titles by the end of 2026.
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By Samsung Newsroom
On January 4, two days ahead of the opening of CES 2026, Samsung Electronics held The First Look 2026 press conference at Wynn Las Vegas. Hosted in Samsung’s dedicated exhibition space, the event drew attention from major international media outlets.
Under the theme “Your Companion to AI Living,” Samsung outlined its vision for bringing joy, convenience and care to people’s daily lives — unveiling new products and technologies designed to support that goal. The company also emphasized its commitment to democratizing AI by integrating the technology across its product lineup and services.
Watch how Samsung is embedding AI into everyday life.
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By Samsung Newsroom
The 2025 Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) returned to Culver City with a constellation of films from across Asia — stories shaped by tradition, creativity and imagination. As the festival’s premier partner, Samsung Electronics brought its Onyx Cinema LED technology to the center of this celebration, offering audiences a viewing experience that honored the craft behind each film.
Now in its 11th year, AWFF continues its mission of elevating Asian filmmakers onto the global stage. This year, Samsung’s participation added something quietly meaningful: not a new layer of technology, but a new level of care in how each story meets its audience.
Filmmakers See Their Stories in a New Light
For many directors premiering work at AWFF, seeing their films on an Onyx Cinema LED screen was more than a technical upgrade, it was a moment of recognition. With traditional projection, even subtle variations in brightness, shadow or color can shift the experience away from how a film should have felt. But inside the Onyx auditoriums, filmmakers found the version of their film that most closely resembled what they created in the grading suite.
▲ “Al Chang’s short film Cindy is presented on the Samsung Onyx Cinema LED screen at AWFF.” ▲ Al Chang, director of “Cindy,” talks about the story behind his film at the Asian World Film Festival backdrop. For Al Chang, director of the short film “Cindy,” the difference was immediate. After screening films in a wide range of theaters, he was struck by the consistency and clarity: “I’ve had short films screen in a lot of theaters, and there’s always some variation — washed-out blacks or colors that don’t translate the way we graded them. Here, it was like watching it on my own TV.”
Executive producer Kira T. Bixby, whose film “Rooftop” tells a Korean American story rooted in Los Angeles, emphasized how much the image supported the story’s emotion. “Everything really popped for us — the colors, the compositions, the details we worked so hard to craft,” she said. “Film is such a visual language, so how you’re able to see it really matters.”
“Seeing movies presented with this level of precision gives filmmakers confidence that their work is being treated with respect.”
— Asel Sherniyazova, Co-Founder and Managing Director, AWFF
The experience resonated with filmmakers from the Korean Parallel Smartphone Film Festival (KPSFF) as well — a program that empowers creators and performers, including those with disabilities, to make films using smartphones. Seeing their work on a large LED cinema screen was both unexpected and affirming.
Director Byun Seung Chae, known for her color-driven storytelling, recalled the moment the film began: “What struck me right away was how unbelievably clear the image was. The colors were beautiful, and I was amazed that a film could look that sharp on such a large screen. I turned to the person next to me and said, ‘I didn’t expect it to look this good!’”
▲ “Directors Byun Seung Chae (left) and Han Kyoung Woo join audiences inside the Onyx auditorium during the KPSFF program.” LA-based filmmaker Zenon Samuels, who attended the festival and works extensively with nighttime visuals and neon-heavy palettes, echoed that sentiment after experiencing an Onyx screening for the first time. “The blacks are super dark, and with a film that’s so bright and colorful, the high dynamic range made the colors really pop and helped bring the energy and nighttime aesthetic to life.”
▲ “LA-based filmmaker Zenon Samuels shares their viewing experience following an Onyx auditorium screening.” Together, these voices reflected a consistent theme: Onyx didn’t alter their films — it respected and faithfully recreated the choices behind them. For directors and performers seeing their work in this format, the experience felt both cinematic and deeply personal.
Audiences Rediscover What Cinemas Can Be With Samsung Onyx
Festivalgoers — many encountering Onyx for the first time — described a level of clarity and contrast that felt distinct from traditional projection.
New York attendees Jack Joyce and Matthew Gallopo noted how the presentation shaped their experience: “Those darker colors — and not having that graininess — kind of put you in the moment a little bit. It was cool,” Joyce said. Gallopo added, “The color certainly popped, and a lot of it was pretty crisp.”
▲ “Festival attendees, Matthew Gallopo (left) and Jack Joyce (right) talk about their impression of the Onyx screen at AWFF 2025.” For some, the impact was emotional as much as technical.
Entertainment lawyer Jesse Weiner, who watches films professionally as part of his work, noted how the detail and richness altered the way he connected with the narrative unfolding onscreen. “Watching this film on Samsung Onyx, the picture was bright, rich… about as good as I can imagine seeing a film with that kind of quality and texture,” he added. “It looked very lifelike — almost like being immersed in the action of the film.”
▲ “Jesse Weiner, a New York–based entertainment lawyer, describes how the picture quality influenced the way he connected with the film.” Others reflected on what experiences like this might mean for the future of theaters. As streaming, gaming and home entertainment rapidly evolve, festivalgoers were struck by how an elevated cinema environment can bring people together again.
“Innovations in the cinema industry should help audiences truly see the story, and Samsung’s Onyx screens do just that.”
— Georges N. Chamchoum, Executive Director, AWFF
Across ages, backgrounds and filmmaking experience, the audience conversations pointed to the same conclusion: cinema remains powerful — and when the screen elevates rather than competes with the storytelling, the theatrical experience becomes even more compelling.
▲ “The Culver Theater lobby buzzes with filmmakers, audiences and industry guests as AWFF 2025 unfolds.”
A Thoughtful Dialogue on the Future of Cinema
At this year’s festival, Samsung also hosted the panel discussion “Redefining the Cinema Experience with Samsung Onyx,” bringing together leading voices shaping the craft and technology of modern filmmaking. The panel featured:
Glenn Gainor, CEO & Producer, Hollywood Ventures Group Steven Poster (ASC, CSC), Board Member, 6P Color; President Emeritus, International Cinematographers Guild Local 600 Philip Holland, Director, Cinematographer, Digital Cinema Specialist & Color Scientist Craig German, Former C-Suite Executive, Amazon Studios and Paramount Over the hour-long conversation, the panelists explored how advancements in HDR, color accuracy and display technology are reshaping both creative possibility and audience expectation. Much of the discussion focused on how deeper blacks, wider color gamuts and consistent presentation can reinforce cinematic emotion rather than alter it.
“We had the ability to capture [the darkest of dark and the brightest of bright] on film, but not to project it — until now.”
— Glenn Gainor, Head of Production, Hollywood Ventures Group
Gainor reflected on the shift in audience expectations as viewing environments improve across the board, noting, “Clearly, I work in the movie business, so my home system is probably pretty good. [But it’s] never going to be as good as what we just saw. This is an entirely different, immersive experience.”
▲ “Glenn Gainor (center) shares his perspective on the future of theatrical storytelling during the panel session, joined by cinematographers and experts from across the industry.” Steven Poster spoke to how companies and the technology they develop can support — not interfere with — creative intent. “Samsung was one of the first to listen to creators with filmmaker mode — and that really mattered,” he said. “Motion interpolation destroyed suspension of disbelief, and now we can have that back.”
Holland pointed out how emissive displays strengthen emotional immersion by revealing details often lost in projection. “Because this tech can achieve such deep black, you don’t get milky shadows,” he said. “In a room like this, there were moments when you couldn’t see the edge of the frame — you felt like you were there.”
▲ “Philip Holland (far right) discusses the role of HDR and contrast in modern cinematic storytelling during the panel session.” That depth and precision became a larger theme as the panel discussed the creative range made possible by HDR. Gainor described it as an expansion of storytelling itself: “The art of storytelling allows us to get the darkest of dark and the brightest of bright.” Poster added: “We had the ability to capture it on film, but not to project it — until now.”
▲ “Panelists discuss the evolving landscape of theatrical storytelling during ‘The Future of Cinema Experience with Samsung Onyx’ session at AWFF 2025.”
AWFF 2025: Where Art and Technology Meet
During the festival, one theme echoed across screenings, hallways and panel rooms alike: when the viewing experience respects the filmmaker’s intent, the connection between audience and story becomes stronger. That idea also shaped how AWFF leadership reflected on this year’s partnership with Samsung.
Executive Director Georges N. Chamchoum — an Emmy and multiple award-winning film director and producer — said, “AWFF has always been about cultural exchange, introducing Asian filmmakers to the world and giving their stories the visibility they deserve. Samsung’s support strengthens that mission.” He added that “innovations in the cinema industry should help audiences truly see the story, and Samsung’s Onyx screens do just that.”
Co-Founder and Managing Director Asel Sherniyazova highlighted the responsibility of presenting films with care: “A film may travel across continents before reaching our stage. Seeing it presented with this level of precision gives filmmakers confidence that their work is being treated with respect.”
▲ “Executive Director Georges N. Chamchoum (left) and Co-Founder Asel Sherniyazova photographed at AWFF 2025, marking this year’s collaboration with Samsung.” Samsung’s role at AWFF 2025 reaffirmed that technology can amplify the heart of a story when used with care. By helping films reach audiences exactly as their creators intended, this year’s festival offered a promising look at how cinemas can continue to inspire, connect and bring stories to life.
▲ “The Culver Theater, where the 11th Asian World Film Festival brought together filmmakers and audiences from around the world.” View the full article
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By Samsung Newsroom
Samsung Electronics today announced its partnership with the 2025 Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) as the festival’s official display technology sponsor. This year’s event — held November 11–20, 2025 in Culver City, California — will include screenings and key events presented on Samsung’s Onyx Cinema LED screens at the Culver Theater, the festival’s official venue.
Now in its 11th year, the Asian World Film Festival brings together acclaimed filmmakers and award-contending titles from across more than 30 Asian countries, serving as a cultural bridge between East and West. By supporting AWFF, Samsung underscores its commitment to advancing cinematic innovation and empowering creators through technology that enhances visual storytelling.
“Samsung is proud to support the Asian World Film Festival and celebrate filmmakers who are redefining storytelling on the global stage,” said Hoon Chung, Executive Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “Through Samsung Onyx, audiences can experience cinema with a level of precision and realism that mirrors the director’s true intent.”
▲ The festival’s opening and closing films, along with awards ceremony, will be presented in Samsung Onyx auditoriums at the Culver Theater.
Elevating the Cinema Experience With Samsung Onyx
Samsung’s Cinema LED Onyx screen will take center stage at AWFF, transforming how audiences experience films at the Culver Theater. Key moments — including the opening and closing films and the awards ceremony — will be presented in Onyx auditoriums, where the festival’s cinematic artistry meets Samsung’s cutting-edge innovation.
As the world’s first DCI-certified cinema LED display,1 Samsung Onyx redefines the moviegoing experience by replacing traditional projection-based systems with advanced LED technology that delivers vivid color, true black levels and exceptional brightness. The result is a brilliantly immersive HDR viewing experience that faithfully preserves each filmmaker’s creative vision, ensuring every detail is seen just as it was meant to be.
“The Asian World Film Festival is dedicated to showcasing the highest standards of cinematic excellence,” said Georges N. Chamchoum, AWFF Executive Director. “Partnering with Samsung allows us to deliver the next-generation viewing experience that elevates the artistry and visual storytelling of every film we present.”
The Culver Theater features four Samsung Onyx Cinema LED auditoriums and one Samsung The Wall 8K LED auditorium, making it one of the most advanced LED multiplexes in the world.
Leading Industry Dialogue on the Future of Cinema
As part of its ongoing commitment to advancing cinematic innovation, Samsung will host a panel discussion, “Redefining the Cinema Experience With Samsung Onyx,” in collaboration with the Asian World Film Festival on Saturday, November 15, 2025, at the Culver Theater.
The session — featuring a panel of leading filmmakers, cinematographers and industry experts — will explore how LED display technology, including Samsung Onyx, is redefining the creative and technical frontiers of filmmaking. Discussions will focus on how advancements in color accuracy, contrast and dynamic range are empowering directors and cinematographers to bring their stories to life in new and immersive ways.
A Shared Commitment to Innovation and Artistry
Beyond the festival, Samsung continues to drive innovation across the global cinema industry as well. Earlier this year, the company introduced the new Onyx (ICD model) — the latest evolution of the world’s first DCI-certified LED cinema display — at CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas.
The upgraded Onyx combines brilliant HDR performance with peak brightness of 300 nits, frame rates up to 120Hz in 4K2 and precise DCI-P3 color accuracy, delivering ultra-smooth motion and lifelike visuals in every frame. Its scalable design, available in 5-, 10- and 14-meter sizes, allows theaters to maximize screen size without sacrificing image quality, while an industry-first 10-year warranty ensures reliability and long-term value.3
Through these innovations, Samsung is redefining the cinematic experience — empowering filmmakers, exhibitors and audiences to experience the emotion, color and detail exactly as it was envisioned.
Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) is a consortium of major studios formed to establish specifications for an open architecture for digital cinema systems. ︎ Based on the screen’s internal data bandwidth. Actual frame rates may vary depending on the connected IMB. ︎ Based on internal research and publicly available information. Onyx includes a standard five-year warranty on parts, with options to extend coverage up to 10 years. ︎ View the full article
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By Samsung Newsroom
At its core, television is about picture quality. As the world’s No. 1 TV brand, Samsung Electronics has consistently extended its lead in this field, securing an unrivaled position in the pursuit of excellence.
The mark of true leadership, however, lies not only in picture quality itself but also in the overall viewing experience. Samsung’s 2025 OLEDs embody this with Glare-Free1 and AI gamma-adjusting technologies, innovations that minimize distractions to deliver an optimal viewing experience. To uncover the details behind the TVs’ vivid visuals, Samsung Newsroom spoke with Mirae Shin from the Picture Quality Lab of Samsung Electronics’ Visual Display (VD) Business.
▲ Mirae Shin with the new 2025 Samsung S95F OLED TV
Enhanced Glare-Free Technology: Bright or Dark, Always Clear
OLED is renowned for delivering perfect blacks, vivid colors and ultra-fast response times — strengths made possible by its self-emissive design, which allows each pixel to generate color or block light without the need for a backlight.
Yet the high-gloss finishes often used to maximize these strengths are inevitably vulnerable to reflections from external light sources. While a theater-like setting that blocks all ambient light would be ideal, the viewing environments of TV users are rarely perfect. Sunlight streaming through windows during the day or the glow of living room lights in the evening can reflect off the screen, making it difficult to truly appreciate what’s on-screen.
This is where Glare-Free technology makes the difference. By effectively reducing reflections and glare, it allows viewers to experience OLED to the fullest in any environment.
Select 2025 Samsung OLEDs deliver an impressive Glare-Free performance with a specially engineered low-reflection layer that disperses external light and reduces internal light-scattering without distorting picture quality. Compared to previous models, it reduces reflections by more than 25%.2 This performance has also been verified by UL Solutions, a global certification organization.3
“This year’s enhanced Glare-Free technology significantly lowers reflection rates and minimizes screen distortion, ultimately enabling the set to deliver outstanding picture quality in both bright and dark environments,” Shin explained. In practice, this means viewers don’t have to worry about washed-out colors caused by sunlight when watching movies or diminished details in dark game scenes under ambient lighting.
▲ Comparison: OLEDs with/without Glare-Free technology in a bright viewing environment. Select 2025 Samsung OLEDs minimize viewing interference from external light sources by leveraging a special low-reflection layer.
Bringing Hidden Details to Light With AI Gamma Technology
Samsung hasn’t overlooked software innovations, either. While Glare-Free technology provides a physical solution to reduce interference from external light sources, AI gamma adjustment adds another layer of refinement. 2025 Samsung OLEDs optimize content by using AI to adjust gamma values, which refer to numerical measurements that define the correlation between the brightness of an input signal and the luminance displayed on-screen.
Human vision is highly sensitive to subtle contrast differences in dark areas, but responds less acutely in bright areas. Gamma adjustment compensates for this, making contrast appear more natural to the eye. When effectively implemented, it allows viewers to perceive fine details even in shadowed scenes, all while delivering more vivid and lifelike visuals.
▲ 2025 Samsung OLED TVs offer an AI-based gamma adjustment feature to optimize each scene by content and ambient light.
“Our enhanced gamma-adjusting technology uses AI algorithms to analyze the average brightness of each scene in real time, then automatically adjusts the gamma value according to the surrounding lighting conditions,” Shin explained, outlining the fundamental principles behind the technology.
“For example, when watching dark content in a bright living room, the gamma value is adjusted so that shadowed areas on screen are brightened just enough to preserve detail, preventing them from being obscured by ambient light,” she said. “Conversely, when watching bright content in a dark room, the gamma value is adjusted to minimize glare in bright on-screen areas and enhance contrast.”
“When the environment suddenly shifts from dark to bright — like when the lights come on in a movie theater — shadowed areas on screen can temporarily disappear from view. Again, adjusting the gamma value in such cases makes those dark areas visible again. The key is to keep the viewing experience consistent by providing adaptive gamma values,” she added.
Brightness, Contrast and High Refresh Rates for the Ultimate Viewing Experience
Besides Glare-Free technology and AI gamma adjustment technology, the 2025 OLEDs also incorporate a range of signature Samsung innovations that maximize the strengths of OLED panels. For example, upgraded panels are brighter by about 30%4 compared to previous models. “The brighter the TV display, the more accurately it can convey a filmmaker or content creator’s original intent,” said Shin.
Contrast ratio — the core strength of OLED — has also been enhanced. “OLED panels are made of self-emissive elements, allowing each RGB5 pixel to be switched on or off individually,” Shin explained. “This means that when black content is displayed, each pixel can be entirely dimmed to produce perfect blacks.” The contrast between deep blacks and increased brightness heightens immersion not only in movies and dramas, but also in games with numerous dark scenes.
▲ Shin proudly notes that the new S95F OLED TV delivers unmatched immersion with enhanced brightness, perfect blacks and high refresh rates.
“Samsung’s 2025 OLED TVs are an attractive choice not only for content viewers but also for gamers,” Shin continued. “Glare-Free technology allows dark scenes in games to be enjoyed in crisp detail, even in bright environments. On top of that, the TV is the industry’s first to support a 165Hz refresh rate, delivering smooth, lifelike gameplay without any breaks in the action,” she added. “OLED’s strengths lie in pixel-level dimming and ultra-fast response times. By combining those with a 165Hz refresh rate, we’ve unlocked the full potential of OLED panels.”
Equipped with cutting-edge technologies, the 2025 Samsung OLEDs deliver the ultimate immersive viewing experience. With these new models, Samsung has once again proven its unrivaled leadership in OLED technology — not only advancing the state of the art, but pushing the very boundaries of what a TV can be.
1 Applicable only to models featuring Glare-Free technology
2 Based on internal studies
3 UL’s verification certifies glare-free performance by evaluating the product against the Unified Glare Rating (UGR) test standards set by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) (Reflected glare UGR ≤ 10, discomfort glare UGR ≤ 22, disability glare UGR ≤ 34).
4 Based on internal studies
5 Red, green, blue
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