General Gaming Amazon announces new game streaming service Luna, $5.99/month to start

[TwinIon]

Luna will have an introductory price of $5.99 a month and feature a curated selection of games that looks to include 100+ games including Resident Evil 7, Control, Panzer Dragoon, A Plague Tale: Innocence, The Surge 2, Yooka-Laylee, GRID, Abzu, and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. It'll be available on PC, Mac, Fire TV, and iOS via web apps. Android support will come later.

 

The service will also get Assassins Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6, and Immortals Fenyx Rising on release. They promise up to 4K/60 for select titles. Naturally you can expect some Twitch integration and it runs on AWS.

 

They also announced a controller that seems to function just like the Stadia controller (direct wifi connection), connecting directly to WiFi. It'll be available for $49.99.

 

 

The two things that stick out most to me are the very aggressive initial price, and the fact that they got it working on iOS.

 

If this is really a Netflix like service (single monthly fee, no purchasing games), that makes it easy to understand and worth giving a look if it works and the library is any good.

 

The iOS web app thing is obviously not ideal, but as long as it works it shows a clear path for others to follow (assuming Apple doesn't go out of their way to break it).

 

EDIT:

 

We now have a look at the business model. Luna will individually priced channels which will give you access to all the games on that channel. Basically following the same model as Prime Videos channels. The first channel is Amazon's own, with the second being Ubisoft.

 

[vaxick]

[JPDunks4]

And now we know why MS has said Sony isn't really their main competition.  Amazon and Google have far deeper pockets and seem way more of a threat than Sony, especially when you look at how Sony doesn't seem concerned with moving forward with cloud gaming or subscription services.

 

If MS didn't buy Bethesda, I'd guess Google or Amazon may have been next in line to scoop them up.

[stepee]

I love the idea of streaming and that it’s getting to a usable state finally but man I don’t want to see Amazon or Stadia or anyone who doesn’t make hardware to have their service take off. I want streaming to be an addition to hardware to move the games around platforms but I hate the idea of streaming only exclusives of games that are actually good. 

[Jason]

26 minutes ago, TwinIon said:

 

 

 

I know there's only so many ways to design a controller but that deadass looks like a Switch Pro Controller.

[Bacon]

[AlwaysDyingX]

I'll try it for a month as long as there is no commitment 

 

[SimpleG]

It popped up on my Amazon app , I signed up for early access. 

[AbsolutSurgen]

Another one?

[Mr.Vic20]

I can't imagine the underlying streaming tech is much different than the last couple of streaming services I've tried, so I'm not expecting much. 

[TwinIon]

1 hour ago, stepee said:

I love the idea of streaming and that it’s getting to a usable state finally but man I don’t want to see Amazon or Stadia or anyone who doesn’t make hardware to have their service take off. I want streaming to be an addition to hardware to move the games around platforms but I hate the idea of streaming only exclusives of games that are actually good. 

You don't count the Fire Stick as hardware? /s

 

I agree that exclusives in a subscription service feel different, but at the same time a Luna exclusive would be generally more accessible than a PS5 exclusive for most people.

 

1 hour ago, JPDunks4 said:

And now we know why MS has said Sony isn't really their main competition.  Amazon and Google have far deeper pockets and seem way more of a threat than Sony, especially when you look at how Sony doesn't seem concerned with moving forward with cloud gaming or subscription services.

 

If MS didn't buy Bethesda, I'd guess Google or Amazon may have been next in line to scoop them up.

 

It's not exactly a coincidence that the three largest cloud service providers are all launching game streaming services. MS has a more complicated stake in all this, but for Google and Amazon it really feels like a play to build up their cloud platforms. Amazon in particular has a long history of being their own best customer, and then selling that service to others. I feel like their play is to build an expertise up with Luna, and then offer that to every company that might want to have their own game streaming service. It's the classic Amazon move.

 

You're right about Bethesda, and I hadn't really thought about it. Especially given how much of Amazon's profits come from AWS, it sure makes sense for them to spend billions now if it can further cement them as a cloud leader as the cloud consumes another category of computing. 

[XxEvil AshxX]

So how is this service on iOS any different than what MS was trying to do with xCloud? If they allow this, for sure MS would have some ground to stand on.

[crispy4000]

Quote

The company has also partnered with Ubisoft for a specific “gaming channel.” Here’s how Amazon describes it:

Players who subscribe to this channel will have access to their favorite Ubisoft titles in up to 4K resolution, mobile gameplay, and access to new titles when the channel launches like Assassins Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6, and Immortals Fenyx Rising the same day they release. This is the first of multiple Luna game channels in development, where customers can play games from their favorite publishers and genres.

 

This is how gaming becomes cable.  Been saying for years now that we'd see this materialize.

I'm also fascinated by them getting on iOS.  Amazon is one of the few companies Apple grants exceptions for, so Epic's court case might have just gotten a shot in the arm.

[JPDunks4]

5 minutes ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

So how is this service on iOS any different than what MS was trying to do with xCloud? If they allow this, for sure MS would have some ground to stand on.

 

They are using a Web Browser Client, not an App.  So not sure how it'll exactly work.

 

Run it through Safari or Chrome or whatever on iOS rather than its own native App.

[AbsolutSurgen]

1 minute ago, crispy4000 said:

 

This is how gaming becomes cable.  Been saying for years now that we'd see this materialize.

As for the service itself, I'm fascinated by them getting on the Apple Marketplace as such.  Amazon is one of the few companies Apple grants exceptions for, so I think Epic's court case might have just gotten a shot in the arm.

In order to justify a "channel", you need to want to play all of the games from a specific publisher.  Is this really any different than Uplayplus?

 

I thought they had an Apple "web app" -- isn't that accessed through the browser, rather than the webstore?

[crispy4000]

7 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

In order to justify a "channel", you need to want to play all of the games from a specific publisher.  Is this really any different than Uplayplus?

 

  Uplay Plus is only on PC.  Amazon's going to sell it as an add-on, it sounds like.

 

7 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

I thought they had an Apple "web app" -- isn't that accessed through the browser, rather than the webstore?

 

Didn't see that, sounds like what Rainway was doing in PC browsers.  But even they have a native phone app.

[AbsolutSurgen]

13 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

 

  Uplay Plus is only on PC.  Amazon's going to sell it as an add-on, it sounds like.

Yes.  Sounds to me like essentially the same thing as they have on PC, but on Luna.

 

13 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

Didn't see that, sounds like what Rainway was doing in PC browsers.  But even they have a native phone app.

Yup, but Apple won't allow an app to do stream games.

[crispy4000]

5 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

Yup, but Apple won't allow an app to do stream games.

 

Clarification: Apple won't allow an app to do a streaming subscription unless they get a cut of everything digitally bought in it.

 

[AbsolutSurgen]

3 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

 

Clarification: Apple won't allow an app to do a streaming subscriptions unless they get a cut of everything digitally bought in it, or for it.

So, if the streaming service is only getting ~30% of the revenue on the sale of the game, how do they give 30% of revenue to Apple?

Edit:  They also need to have a separate app for each game, they are not allowed to have a "catalog app".

[Brian]

Ubisoft’s games on release is a big get which further illustrates that Google isn’t even trying. 

[JPDunks4]

2 minutes ago, ManUtdRedDevils said:

Ubisoft’s games on release is a big get which further illustrates that Google isn’t even trying. 

 

Did they release the pricing on the Uplay Channel?  I don't think that's included in the $5.99 Introductory price

[AbsolutSurgen]

Just now, JPDunks4 said:

 

Did they release the pricing on the Uplay Channel?  I don't think that's included in the $5.99 Introductory price

It's not, its a separate channel for more $$$$.

[Brian]

1 minute ago, JPDunks4 said:

 

Did they release the pricing on the Uplay Channel?  I don't think that's included in the $5.99 Introductory price

Oh so you pay another fee for Ubisoft’s games? Wow ok never mind. 

[crispy4000]

9 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

So, if the streaming service is only getting ~30% of the revenue on the sale of the game, how do they give 30% of revenue to Apple?

 

Apple gets 30% of any transaction if it goes through a mobile app.  Unless you're the Amazon Store or Netflix app, because reasons.

They allow mirroring of game on a device you own.  They don't allow an App to mirror a streaming computer, because that's too little content control.  (Apple's reasoning)  But really, it's because they think they should have a cut of cloud gaming services.

[Mercury33]

So I pay 5.99 for the privilege of paying xxx more for individual developer channels to actually play their games? Lol fucking hard pass. Also fuck Amazon. I’m not supporting them and helping them get into this space. 
 

Also to whoever said “you don’t consider the fire stick hardware?” Lol fucking of course it doesn’t count. 

[TheLeon]

11 minutes ago, Mercury33 said:

So I pay 5.99 for the privilege of paying xxx more for individual developer channels to actually play their games? Lol fucking hard pass. Also fuck Amazon. I’m not supporting them and helping them get into this space. 
 

Also to whoever said “you don’t consider the fire stick hardware?” Lol fucking of course it doesn’t count. 

It's the same idea as Prime Video or Hulu. You get a bunch of stuff included in the base service (they mention 100+ games), and you can add on additional subscriptions. You also missed the /s after the fire stick comment. 

[AbsolutSurgen]

Amazon Luna Powered by 8 Teraflop NVIDIA T4 GPU, Full Launch Game Lineup Revealed

Quote

Luna subscribers will be playing their games on a Windows-based EC2 G4 server instance, powered by an Intel Cascade Lake CPU and a NVIDIA T4 GPU. The NVIDIA T4 is designed for running on servers, but it’s based on the Turing architecture and should provide 8.1 teraflops of performance, making it roughly as powerful as a GeForce RTX 2070 graphics card. Of course, ray tracing is also supported.

Quote

• A Plague Tale: Innocence
• Abzu
• AO Tennis 2
• Aragami
• Blasphemous
• BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle
• Blazing Chrome
• Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
• Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
• Castlevania Anniversary Collection
• Contra Anniversary Collection
• Control
• CrossCode
• Deponia Doomsday
• DiRT Rally 2.0
• Everspace
• Furi
• Ghost of a Tale
• Goodbye Deponia
• Grid
• Hard Reset Redux
• Iconoclasts
• Indivisible
• Infinite Minigolf
• Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth
• Lumines Remastered
• Metro Exodus
• Mighty Switch Force! Collection
• Obduction
• Overcooked! 2
• Panzer Dragoon Remake
• Paper Beast
• R-Type Dimensions EX
• Redout: Solar Challenge Edition
• Resident Evil 7
• Rez Infinite
• Rime
• River City Girls
• The Sexy Brutale
• Shadow Tactics
• Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse
• Shantae: Half-Genie Hero – Ultimate Edition
• Shantae: Risky’s Revenge – Director’s Cut
• Sonic Mania Plus
• Star Wars Pinball
• SteamWorld Dig
• SteamWorld Dig 2
• SteamWorld Heist: Ultimate Edition
• SteamWorld Quest
• Super Mega Baseball 3
• The Surge
• The Surge 2
• Sythentik: Legion Rising
• Tacoma
• Tangledeep
• Tennis World Tour 2
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III
• Thimbleweed Park
• Valfaris
• Victor Vran: Overkill Edition
• Wonder Boy: The Dragon Trap
• XIII
• Yoku’s Island Express
• Yooka-Laylee
• Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
• Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana

 

Underwhelming game list, underwhelming hardware...

[stepee]

There’s some really great games in that list but most of them are indie games that aren’t that exciting since they are on switch already.

[Brian]

With all of these services, it must be a good time to be an Indie

[Mercury33]

7 hours ago, TheLeon said:

It's the same idea as Prime Video or Hulu. You get a bunch of stuff included in the base service (they mention 100+ games), and you can add on additional subscriptions. You also missed the /s after the fire stick comment. 

Until Amazon builds up a massive first party catalog it’s not really the same thing at all. I can watch a fair amount of stuff and never touch the additional channels on Prime and get my money’s worth. What am I getting from Amazon for the money right now? The infrastructure and one game?  I’m not saying it couldn’t be huge one day but launching the service before they establish there first party seems like a rip off right now. 

[Rev]

I see you can request early access now. Are people already in it or is there a date when early access starts inviting people?

[Biggie]

18 hours ago, stepee said:

There’s some really great games in that list but most of them are indie games that aren’t that exciting since they are on switch already.

[TheLeon]

15 hours ago, Mercury33 said:

Until Amazon builds up a massive first party catalog it’s not really the same thing at all. I can watch a fair amount of stuff and never touch the additional channels on Prime and get my money’s worth. What am I getting from Amazon for the money right now? The infrastructure and one game?  I’m not saying it couldn’t be huge one day but launching the service before they establish there first party seems like a rip off right now. 

Quote

Amazon says more than 100 games will be available via the Luna Plus channel, and launch titles include Resident Evil 7, Control, Panzer Dragoon, A Plague Tale: Innocence, The Surge 2, Yooka-Laylee, GRID, Abzu, and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. Amazon says more titles will be added “over time.”

Not everything is going to be behind the developer channels. 

[Guest]

On 9/24/2020 at 3:32 PM, AbsolutSurgen said:

So, if the streaming service is only getting ~30% of the revenue on the sale of the game, how do they give 30% of revenue to Apple?

Do what a lot of companies do: charge iOS customers more for the sub.

[Mercury33]

8 hours ago, TheLeon said:

Not everything is going to be behind the developer channels. 

Yeah I know. That doesn’t change my opinion. Netflix is sub par without its new original content. They can add a whole bunch of old games and indie games. That’s nice. I have a bunch of other places to play those. Until Amazon builds up a first party capable of putting out must have games, or signs exclusive deals with developers to release under their name, its fun and unnecessary tech