Amazon has launched Luna, a cloud gaming service that it says game developers can use to reach multiple endpoints from a single source.

Luna is currently available in the U.S. and will be a rival for established services such as Google Stadia, Microsoft xCloud and Sony PlayStation Now, where users can play games directly from cloud servers rather than having to download them first.

Luna's attraction is the ability to play on a variety of devices, and Amazon says players can even start playing on one screen and seamlessly pick up and continue on another. At launch, Luna will be available on Fire TV, PC, and Mac, as well as on web apps for iPhone and iPad, with Android coming soon.

The service uses Windows servers, Intel Cascade Lake CPUs and Nvidia GPUs, making it easier for developers to port their games to run on Luna. Developers will only have to move existing Windows games onto an AWS instance and set up cloud streaming access.

The Luna Product Director, Oliver Messenger, said that Amazon wants to make porting games low effort. This can be seen in the fact that it has launched with over 100 games available including Resident Evil 7, Panzer Dragoon, The Surge, Control, and GRID. Amazon has also partnered with Ubisoft for a gaming channel that Amazon says provides access to Ubisoft titles in up to 4K resolution, mobile gameplay, and access to new titles on the same day they release.

Twitch integration is also included in Luna. Players will see Twitch streams for games in the service, and from Twitch, they’ll be able to instantly start playing Luna games.

There's a Luna Controller that is Alexa-enabled and is described as featuring a multiple-antenna design that prioritizes uninterrupted wifi for lower-latency gaming.  The service is being introduced with an introductory price of $5.99 a month. This gets subscribers simultaneous access to two devices for playing Luna Plus channel games. 

More Information

Luna On Amazon Developer

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