Amazon Enters Into Cloud Gaming With Luna

Amazon recently held a Hardware Event to announce new products that they were bringing to the market. Among a range of Alexa products was a surprising reveal. Amazon announced ‘Luna‘, its subscription-based cloud gaming service. Therefore, Amazon entered into direct competition with Google’s Stadia, Microsoft’s Cloud, and Sony’s Play Station Now. While there were rumors about the service since last year, Amazon only made it official in the Hardware Event.

The service comes with cool features to increase its selling point. This helps Luna present itself as the better one among its competitors. Additionally, the service will be available for PC, Mac, Fire TV, and iPhone and iPad (via web apps). Furthermore, it will also get an Android version after the launch. Amazon has priced the service at $5.99 per month as an introductory offer. Luna will be using Amazon Web Services. The company said, “With Luna and the incredible scale and capability of Amazon Web Services (AWS), it’s easy to stream high-quality, immersive games.”

Amazon Luna Features a Huge Library of Games

Luna will be launched with about 100 games in just the early access period. These include titles like Control, Resident Evil 7, GRID, Yooka-Laylee and The Impossible Lair, and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. The company wants to make sure there is always something to play for everyone in the family.

The service will also be partnering up with Ubisoft in the future to expand their library. Players who subscribe to this channel will have access to their favorite Ubisoft titles in up to 4K resolution, mobile gameplay, and access to new titles like Assassins Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6, and Immortals Fenyx Rising the same day they release.

Amazon said, “This is the first of multiple Luna publisher game channels in development, where customers can play games from their favorite publishers and genres.”

Twitch Integration and Alexa Controller for Luna

Similar to Stadia’s YouTube integration, fans expected Luna to have integration for Amazon-owned streaming service Twitch. Therefore, users can directly stream games to Twitch using Luna. Additionally, viewers can also play games along with their favorite streamers since the integration will allow them to open the game directly from the stream if it is supported by Luna.

Amazon also launched a dedicated controller for Luna in the Hardware event. They said, “The controller will be using Cloud Direct technology. Therefore, since it would be directly connected to the web, it would have lower latency than wireless controllers that use Bluetooth. In addition to a faster connection, the controller is simple and intuitive. Players can connect to their game using the controller. Luna Controller is Alexa-enabled and connects directly to the cloud to effortlessly control the game. In fact, Amazon removed 20 milliseconds of roundtrip latency via Luna Controller with Cloud Direct technology vs. a local Bluetooth connection when playing Luna on a Fire TV Stick. Since the Luna Controller connects directly to cloud servers, players can easily switch between screens—such as Fire TV to mobile phone—without additional pairing or configuration changes.”

Luna Controller will be available for an introductory price of $49.99.

With an introductory price: $5.99 per month, 4K/60FPS for selected titles, PC, Mac, iOS (Android later) support, more than 100 games available, and Twitch integration, the service stands out among its competitors. Amazon opened up requests for early access starting today. However, it is currently only available in the US. There is no information on the regions Amazon plans to expand Luna.

Considering Amazon’s success with Twitch, Luna definitely looks like a game-changer. Additionally, with Ubisoft’s support, it looks like it’s going to be a success.