UPDATED 13:58 EDT / JUNE 14 2021

CLOUD

Amazon Luna cloud game streaming opens to Prime members on Prime Day

Amazon Prime Day is coming and Amazon Inc. is offering numerous benefits to Prime members, including no-invite priority access to Luna, the company’s cloud game streaming service.

Before now, to get into the early access program, members had to request an invite, but on June 21 and 22, the two-day Amazon Prime Day, Prime members can sign up and get access without an invite – and people in the mainland U.S. can do so right now.

This will activate access to Luna free for seven days. After that grace period, users can opt to keep Luna+ for $5.99 a month and access will remain as long as the subscription is maintained.

Luna is available for Windows, MacOS, Fire TV, iOS and select Android devices. It’s also compatible with a number of controllers, including the PlayStation 4, the Xbox One and certain Bluetooth controllers as well as keyboard and mouse. Luna also has its own controller.

The game library has more than 50 role-playing games, shooters, platformers and other games including “GRID,” “Resident Evil 7,” “Control,” “Metro Exodus” and other popular titles.

Gamers interested in increasing that library can also pay $14.99 more a month and get access to the Ubisoft Plus beta channel. That will add games from the “Assassin’s Creed,” “Far Cry” and “Watch Dogs” franchises to the library of games that can be played on the streaming service.

To sweeten the deal, Amazon is reducing the price tag of the Luna controller by 30%, to $48.99 from the usual $69.99 between June 14 and June 22.

All in all, it’s a chance for consumers to see how Amazon’s cloud game streaming service stacks up against others such as Google Inc.’s Stadia and Microsoft Corp.’s xCloud.

Luna operates by rendering the game in the cloud and broadcasting the video to users onto whatever screen they’re playing on, allowing users to play high-performance games on personal computers or devices that otherwise couldn’t handle those games. For example, it allows people to play PC games directly on a Fire TV that would otherwise require a high-performance PC, without needing the expensive custom equipment.

However, it can come with some caveats. Latency could be an issue, since cloud gaming can consume a lot of bandwidth, especially if streaming at 1080p or 4K resolution. Amazon recommends having at least a 10-megabits-per-second or better internet connection, though to get the best performance upwards of 25Mbps could be required for higher resolutions.

Image: Amazon

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