Amazon introduces video game streaming service Luna

By Tom Caswell September 24, 2020

With Luna, Amazon announced its entry into the video game streaming service world on Thursday during its September event.

Like Google’s Stadia, Luna’s games will run on Amazon’s servers and stream to an iPhone, iPad computer, or TV through Amazon’s Fire TV Stick.

Luna’s ability to run via a web app on iPhone and iPad sets the service apart from other competitors. Google Stadia and cloud streaming via Xbox Game Pass Ultimate are unavailable on iOS. While Apple’s ecosystem is currently the only mobile option, an Android app is expected at a later date. Customers can request early access beginning Thursday.

Luna will offer gaming channels, which offer libraries of games. Only Luna+, which costs $6 a month, is available at launch, but others, including one from Ubisoft, will be added later. Ubisoft’s gaming channel will give players Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6, and Immortals Fenyx Rising, as well as launch day access. Amazon has not yet said how much other gaming channels will cost or if they can be purchased without Luna+.

The Luna+ library of games will grow, according to Amazon, but the following have been confirmed at launch:

Control
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
Sonic Mania
Resident Evil VII
Panzer Dragoon
A Play Tale: Innocence
The Surge 2
Iconoclasts
GRID
ABZU
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Select titles will be available in 4K 60 FPS, and subscribers can have up to two simultaneous streams.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Similarly to Stadia, Amazon will release a Luna controller that connects directly to its servers to reduce latency during gameplay, with up to 30 milliseconds of improvement compared to pairing with DualShock 4 or Xbox wireless controller. During the early access period, the Luna controller will be available for $50.

Since Amazon owns Twitch, the content streaming service will be integrated directly into Luna, and vice versa. While playing, gamers can access Twitch streams of the game they are enjoying, and on Twitch, viewers start playing the games being streamed.

Currently, early access is only available to those in the United States, and it seems that the pricing for the Luna+ channel and Luna controller may be temporary for this phase of testing

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Professional video producer and writer, gaming enthusiast, and streamer! twitch.tv/greatbritom

Gaming

Amazon’s Fallout success reveals a big problem with the video game business

The cast of Fallout.

April's biggest video game isn't a new release like Tales of Kenzera: Zau or Stellar Blade. Instead, it's a series that hasn't gotten a new entry in years.

Fallout is currently enjoying a wave of mainstream attention thanks to its surprisingly fun Amazon TV adaptation. Returning players and newly-won-over fans alike are returning to classics like Fallout 4 and New Vegas to scratch their post-apocalyptic itches. It's the moment any video game publisher dreams of, but there's just one problem: Bethesda can't capitalize on the moment.

Gaming

The best games on Netflix Games

Key art for the Netflix version of Hades.

Every joke possible has already been made about Netflix Games being -- or not being -- "the Netflix of games," so we won't waste your time trying to come up with another one. In the end, Netflix Games is doing its own thing rather than following the lead of other subscription services, and considering that nearly everyone has access to a Netflix account already, there's no barrier to entry for its huge audience to check out its library of games. All you need is a smartphone and the Netflix app, and you're all set.

While Netflix Games continues to build up its content, there already is enough here to induce some choice paralysis, especially if you've never heard of many of the games on offer. Just like the lineup of shows and movies on Netflix proper, not every game is of the same quality or will be to your taste. Rather than scrolling through the options and being unable to settle on a choice like you do when trying to pick a movie, try out one of our picks for the best games on Netflix Games.

Gaming

If you love Amazon’s Fallout, play the series’ best games on Game Pass and PS Plus next

Two characters in power armor in Fallout 4.

The Fallout TV series just released on Amazon Prime, and it's one of the best video game adaptations out there. It perfectly captures the tense, humorous feel of the postapocalyptic video game series while telling a new story with original characters. If you've just watched the show, you're probably itching to play a Fallout title again or check out one of the games the series is based on for the first time. Thankfully, if you're subscribed to one of the major video game subscription services, that's very easy to do.

Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76 are all on at least one gaming subscription service. While PC and Xbox players will be looking to Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation owners can get in on the fun with PS Plus Extra's game catalog. We've combed through what's available on PC Game Pass, Xbox Game Pass, and PS Plus Extra, and there's no shortage of options. Here are the best starting points on each service.
PC Game Pass