Amazon has expanded its Luna cloud gaming service to the UK, Canada and Germany, after being available in the US exclusively since its official launch a year ago. Luna can be accessed via numerous devices including Fire TV, PC, Mac, iOS and Android, and in addition to its proprietary Luna controller, a range of third-party controllers – including PlayStation and Xbox - are also supported. 

This limited expansion follows Amazon’s decision to combine its three distinct Luna games channels into one. In December 2022, the Family and Retro channels were merged into the core Luna+ offering to create a single catalogue costing $9.99 per month. Previously, subscribing to all three channels would have cost around $21, but the overall catalogue size has declined in the process. Two third-party channels – Jackbox Games and Ubisoft+ - remain distinct and separately priced.  

Google Stadia refugees may find a new home in Luna

Google’s now-shuttered cloud gaming service Stadia was previously available in all of the three markets Amazon Luna has now expanded into, and may help to satisfy the needs of ex-Stadia users seeking a similar experience. Despite continued growth, the cloud gaming market remains small, and at this stage it is unlikely that multiple high-profile services could co-exist and, more importantly, thrive. Although Luna’s business model differs, it is arguably far more accessible given there is no requirement to purchase individual games. What’s more, Amazon Prime subscribers are offered select free titles on rotation, and can also stream Ubisoft games they have already purchased on PC – or converted to PC following the death of Stadia - at no extra cost. In fact, Stadia controllers are also seemingly supported. All of these factors may facilitate a smooth transition to Luna.

Luna+ catalogue shrinks as Amazon reassesses its product strategy

Amazon’s decision to fold its Family and Retro channels into the main Luna+ catalogue suggests there was limited traction for this more curated approach to specific audiences. Games subscription services that have heavily targeted ‘family’ or ‘kids’ in the past haven’t been successful, and, more generally, entertainment services tend to offer Kids' content as a genre within their broader catalogues. Amazon has retreated from this multi-channel approach.   

Before the integration, Amazon had 195 titles across its three Luna channels: 46 in Family, 101 in Plus, and 48 in Retro. After merging the channels, the volume of titles in the Luna+ catalogue rose to 168 - the highest since its launch. However, the size of the catalogue was 27 fewer than the combined total of the three channels the month prior. February 2023 saw a further 26 titles removed from the service, 22 of which were originally part of the Family channel. This suggests a lack of engagement with Luna’s family-focused content specifically, and highlights an ongoing issue in the cloud gaming space surrounding actual and target audiences. Many of these services target casual gamers and families given the low barrier to entry. However, userbases more typically comprise core gamers and tech enthusiasts who are keen to assess this new form of distribution, but are subsequently uninspired by the content on offer.

Since consolidating the channels some publishers have removed all their content from Luna, including Plug In Digital (e.g. Melbits World, PictoQuest, Smoots Summer Games) and Devolver Digital (e.g. Disc Room, Enter the Gungeon, Heave Ho). Embracer Group removed five titles, while 19 remained in the service – of those removed three were from its HandyGames subsidiary (Endling – Extinction is Forever, El Hijo – A Wild West Tale, and Spitlings). It is unclear if Amazon stopped licensing the titles to cut costs and restructure its catalogue, or if the publishers themselves decided not to renew their deals. In late 2022 Amazon announced plans to lay off around 10,000 staff, with engineers and software developers in the Luna department being among those let go. This suggests that Amazon was in the process of minimising Luna’s operating costs.

First-party content, achievements, and friends lists could bolster interest and scale in the face of increasing expectations

Luna’s downsizing indicates primarily that its Family channel was failing to attract any significant footfall, but this change in product strategy – as well as the sudden expansion into new markets - suggests that it is not willing to give up on the service just yet. The service is arguably well-positioned to succeed, as it has Amazon’s deep pockets to rely on for licensing, Amazon Web Services for infrastructure, and offers Twitch integration whereby users can broadcast directly to the video platform. Despite this, Luna has thus far struggled to curate a catalogue attractive enough to pry users away from alternative games subscription offerings, mostly due to its lack of impactful content – a challenge faced by many services in a landscape filled with low-profile, catalogue titles. 

However, Amazon now has the likes of New World and Lost Ark to its name, titles which, as yet, have not made it onto the Luna service. Although not world-leading games, their presence would add a unique dimension to Luna in a sea of services with very similar libraries. What’s more, Luna lacks a number of social features such as friends lists and achievements, which, if added, would breathe more life into the service as a social destination.

The Luna+ catalogue is also very small: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate boasts a catalogue of 527, and Blacknut of 657; both are much larger than Luna+'s at 145. Quantity of course cannot necessarily outstrip quality, but Luna currently does not offer any exclusive or high-profile content either. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is not a comparable service given its hybrid content distribution strategy, but it has become the leading games content subscription service and has clearly raised the bar in terms of consumer expectations with launch-day releases from both first and third-party studios.