Trusted Reviews is supported by its audience. If you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission.Learn more.
Amazon Luna is making the same fatal mistakes as Google Stadia
In This Article
OPINION:Amazon Lunafinally arrived in the UK this week, allowing subscribers to play high-profile games via the cloud without the need for expensive hardware.
There used to be a real buzz around cloud streaming when Luna first launched in the USA back in 2022. Many even predicted it would change the gaming landscape for good, and provide a real challenge to the likes of PlayStation and Nintendo.
But a lot has changed in those two years, most notably the closure ofGoogle Stadia. Now the future of cloud-streaming services such as Amazon Luna isn’t looked upon too favourably, and I can’t see Amazon seeing more success than Google if it continues down its current trajectory.
There are many reasons why Google Stadia failed. The requirement for a fast internet connection will have had an impact, as well as Google’s growing reputation for giving up on projects prematurely. But, as with all gaming platforms, the most important aspect was the game library.
Game platforms live and die by their game library. There was hardly any difference between thePS4andXbox Onein terms of hardware, but the former saw superior sales thanks to its stellar lineup of first-party games such asUncharted 4,God of War,The Last of Us Part 2,Marvel’s Spider-ManandBloodborne.
But despite strong evidence indicating that most gamers are influenced more by a game library than the performance of a platform, Google curiously neglected this area. Stadia did not offer any high-profile games that weren’t already available onPS5,Xbox Series Xor PC. In fact, it often had a number of major omissions:Elden Ring,Call of Duty: Modern Warfare IIandLEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagawere some of the highest selling games in 2022, and yet did not make an appearance on Stadia.
Stadia certainly had a fantastic premise, allowing you to play any game without the need to buy an expensive console. But such talents go to waste when there aren’t enough high-profile games on the platform, never mind exclusives.
And now it looks like Amazon Luna is making the same mistake as Google Stadia. Luna is a little different to Stadia, in that you don’t buy games individually, but pay a subscription fee to access a library of games instead. It’s more akin to the Netflix model, and so sees greater similarities with Xbox Game Pass than Google Stadia.
But Xbox Game Pass has a far more compelling game library than Luna. Xbox has a gluttony of games, including Xbox exclusives such asHalo Infinite,Forza Horizon,Sea of Thievesand Hi-Fi Rush. And there are plenty of modern games on the platform too, such as Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, Atomic Heart, A Plague Tale: Requiem and Valheim.
The Amazon Luna Plus library pales in comparison, with its most notable games launching several years ago.Alien Isolationlaunched in 2014,Controlin 2019, andSonic Maniain 2017 – these are all fantastic games, but arguably not enough to sway gamers from other platforms.
I’m not convinced Luna Plus offers great value for money either. It currently costs £8.99/$9.99 per month, while Game Pass Ultimate (the plan required for cloud streaming) is priced at $14.99/£10.99 per month – a little more expensive, but undoubtedly worth it for the superior selection of games.
Amazon Luna does offer additional game libraries at an extra cost, with Ubisoft Plus priced at a whopping $17.99/£14.99 per month. This gains you access to Ubisofot’s most popular game series such as Assassins’ Creed, Far Cry and Watch Dogs – but I still don’t think the games on offer here provide enough value to justify that steep subscription fee.
Amazon is going to need to improve the Luna Plus game library if it’s ever going to successfully compete with Game Pass, as Google Stadia has shown us all that revolutionary cloud-streaming technology is not enough to win over the gaming crowd.
You might like…
Formerly the Staff Writer at Stuff Magazine, Ryan’s been writing about tech since he graduated from Cardiff University. At Trusted Reviews he is focused on everything computer-related, giving him a va…
Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Why trust our journalism?
Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
