After a year and a half of development, Amazon’s Luna cloud gaming service is now more than just a prototype. Luna for Android, iOS, Chrome OS, macOS, and Windows has been officially released in the United States. The Luna+ service, which includes over 100 games, will cost $10 per month, with the Family Channel and Ubisoft+ Channels costing $6 and $18, respectively.
For those who join up during March, Amazon will reduce the monthly rates for Luna+ and the Family channel to $6 and $3, respectively. Existing subscribers only need to keep their memberships active in order to lock in the current rate.
The formal launch coincides with the addition of a few more channels. A Prime Gaming channel, as the name suggests, offers a free, rotating selection of games to Amazon Prime subscribers. Devil May Cry 5 and Flashback will be among the games available in March.
The Retro Channel costs $5 a month and includes Capcom and SNK classics like Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting and Metal Slug 3, while the Jackbox Games Channel costs $5 per month and includes all eight Jackbox Party Pack games.
The recent Luna update also makes it easier to stream gaming to Twitch via a Fire TV device, Mac, or Windows PC. If you want to interact with viewers, you’ll need a webcam and microphone, but if you’re set on broadcasting but don’t have a powerful enough computer to play demanding locally-stored games, this may be an alternative.
Amazon’s challenge, like that of similar services like Microsoft’s Game Pass Ultimate, is to persuade users that subscription-based game streaming is a good complement to, if not a complete substitute for, traditional PC and console gaming.
You’ll be able to play on almost any device you possess, but you’ll be limited in terms of what you can play and the quality of your internet connection. The key benefit of Amazon is its ubiquity: it can ensure that consumers are aware of Luna’s existence, whether they’re watching Twitch or purchasing a Fire TV device for their living room.
