Rumours regarding Amazon’s cloud gaming venture have been confirmed, as it’s new service Luna is unveiled.
Amazon will join other tech giants in the cloud gaming arena, such as Google and Microsoft, who also offer similar services through Stadia, and Xbox Game Pass. Luna will allow patrons to gain immediate access to a wide range of games across numerous devices, which include: Fire TV, PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Android.
Amazon’s business model revolves around a subscription fee, aiming to charge users $5.99 USD a month in early access, with a library of over 100 games accessible via its Luna+ channel, which is notably more than games than Stadia had at launch.
The initial games available will include: Control, Panzer Dragoon, A Plague Tale: Innocence, The Surge 2, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, GRID, Resident Evil 7, Abzu, and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, with more to be added over time. Games will also be playable at up to 4K/60fps. Amazon also says that games will be playable across two different devices at the same time, as part of one monthly Luna+ subscription.
Ubisoft will partner with the service, offering the “Ubisoft Game Channel,” which will provide gamers the opportunity to access games on launch day, such as Assassins Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6, and Immortals Fenyx Rising. As of yet, it’s not known whether plans are in place to introduce a separate subscription fee to access publisher-based channels, like the Ubisoft Game Channel.
Amazon owned streaming service Twitch will also feature (unsurprisingly), as Luna subscribers will have the ability to watch streams from within the service. Switching from streaming to playing will be seamless, and requires either a mouse and keyboard, Bluetooth controller, or the new Amazon Luna controller.
The Luna controller will be available with early access for a price of $49.99 USD, and according to Amazon “prioritises un-interrupted wifi for lower latency gaming”. Amazon claims reductions of 17 to 30 milliseconds on PC, Fire TV, and Mac, in comparison with other Bluetooth controllers.
No date has been announced for early access yet, but if you’re in the U.S, you can go ahead and request an invitation.
Google Stadia has been slammed by critics as a failure, but Amazon hopes to right the wrongs of Google, and release a new kind of service which takes cloud gaming to a new level. Will it succeed? Only time will tell.