Amazon hosted its 2020 hardware event yesterday, revealing different products. Among the announcements is the new cloud gaming service called Luna that will be playable across Mac, PC, Fire TV, iPhone, iPad (only via web apps), and Android(not yet supported).
Luna will enable gamers to play different games at a low monthly price. It’s a direct competitor to Google’s Stadia and Microsoft’s xCloud. It costs $5.99 a month, but this is an introductory price.
Other competing services cost much more, some less. For instance, Google’s stadia costs $9.99 per month while NVIDIA’s GeForce Now costs $4.99, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will set you back way more at $14.99.
Under the early access, Luna users will be granted access to so-called Luna Plus channel games, with two simultaneous streaming support and gaming at 4K / 60fps resolution on select titles. For now, Luna allows gaming up to 1080p at 60fps.
Luna has an accompanying controller, which Amazon unveiled at the event. Here’s how it looks like:
Luna Controller
The Luna controller is Alexa-enabled and will connect directly to the cloud – which, Amazon says, enables seamless switching between devices. It costs $49.99, but keep in mind this is also an early access price.
As anticipated, the service features Twitch integration. According to Amazon, “Inside the Luna experience, players will see Twitch streams for games in the service, and from Twitch, they’ll be able to instantly start playing Luna games.”
At launch, Luna will stock more than 100 games under the Luna Plus channel but Amazon will add more titles in the future.
And through a partnership with Ubisoft, the maker of a comprehensive catalog of popular games, some of their titles will be available at launch via Luna under a dedicated channel. Amazon looks forward to partner with other publishers to list their games on the platform.
“This is the first of multiple Luna game channels in development, where customers can play games from their favorite publishers and genres,” the company said.
Luna follows Amazon’s first serious attempt to enter the gaming market after it started making games. The first title, crucible, was heavily critiqued and led the company to push it back into a closed beta for polishing.
New World, the company’s second title, is launching in 2021. Amazon also owns game streaming service Twitch, which it acquired in August 2014 at a cool $970 million.