Amazon to Revamp its Luna Cloud Gaming Service with Casual Party Games and More

Amazon is planning to relaunch its Luna cloud gaming service later this year with new party games that can be played with a smartphone as a controller. The all-new Luna platform, which will remain free for Prime members, will also continue to offer a rotating selection of indie and blockbuster games that can be played with a controller.

“The all-new Luna will empower Prime members to play games in the same way they enjoy content on Prime Video or Amazon Music, across the devices that they already own and prefer to use. And there’s no special hardware required — just launch Luna on your Fire TV, smart TV, or tablet, and you’re playing in seconds,” the company explained today.

The reimagined Amazon Luna will put a new GameNight experience front and center. GameNight will feature a selection of social party games that can be played by multiple people around the TV using their smartphones as controllers. The current version of Luna already supports using a smartphone as a virtual controller, and this requires users to scan a QR code and download the Luna Controller app.

GameNight will include exclusive games developed by Amazon, as well as third-party games like Angry Birds and Exploding Kittens optimized for this new living-room social experience. “All GameNight games are designed to be played together with family and friends for maximum laughter and connection,” Amazon emphasized today.

The new version of Amazon Luna will also continue to offer more “serious” games via a rotating library of over 50 titles available for Prime members. Amazon mentioned the availability of blockbuster games such as Hogwarts Legacy, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, and TopSpin 2K25. A larger selection of games will be available with the standalone Luna Premium subscription.

The current version of Amazon Luna lets Prime gamers stream select Ubisoft and GOG PC games they own, and various games are also available for purchase, similar to the option to buy games Google offered on its now-discontinued Stadia service. Amazon confirmed to me that these features will remain available when the new version of Luna becomes available later this year.