These days, it seems every single business has a cloud gaming service. Microsoft has Project xCloud, Google Stadia is here, Nvidia GeForce Now, and I probably can’t remember others right now. Currently, Apple seems to be the only one without a cloud gaming service, which is why it’s more shocking that the App Store does not allow others to exist, but I digress. Today, with its launch of a cloud gaming service named ‘Luna’, Amazon joins the list of businesses.
The service will be available at an introductory price of $5.99 a month during its early access, and will be available on the Laptop, Mac, Fire TV, iPhone , and iPad. An Android version has not been released, but is reportedly on the cards sometime after launch. Early access is also actually limited to the US, so all of us are out of luck at the moment in India.
The service will be operated by the Amazon AWS platform itself, and will provide players with the ability to play over 100 games on the Luna+ channel, with some games even supporting 4K 60fps gameplay.
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The service’s launch titles include major names including Resident Evil 7, Power, GRID, and others. The company has also collaborated with Ubisoft to add a particular Ubisoft channel to its games. This will also provide players with access to upcoming games, including Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Far Cry 6, when released.
Luna will also feature Twitch incorporation, quite obviously, too. Within Luna, players will be able to see Twitch streams, and begin playing Luna games from Twitch as well. Both Bluetooth controllers and KBM set ups will be provided by the service, but Amazon has also released its very own $49.99 Luna controller.
Amazon’s summary of the Luna controller sounds interesting, but I’m a little doubtful of how awesome it would really be after all Stadia promised and didn’t deliver on. Anyway, here’s how Amazon explains how the Luna controller operates.
The Alexa-enabled Luna Controller connects directly to the cloud to monitor your game easily, featuring a multi-antenna architecture that prioritises uninterrupted Wi-Fi for lower latency gaming. In reality, when playing Luna Controller with Cloud Direct vs. Luna Controller via Bluetooth, our testing showed a decrease in round trip latency, with PC, Fire TV, and Mac reductions of between 17 to 30 milliseconds. Since the Luna Controller links directly to cloud servers, players can quickly switch between screens without further pairing or configuration adjustments, such as Fire TV to mobile phones.
