Amazon Prime Video games launch through Luna on Fire TVs
Amazon is adding Luna cloud games to Prime Video for Fire TV users in the U.S. and U.K., giving Prime members a new Games tab.
By Jordan Bell · Startups & Deals Reporter
· 3 min read
Amazon Prime Video games are now arriving inside the streaming app, a move that puts interactive entertainment next to the movies and shows many Prime members already open on their TVs. For investors watching Amazon’s subscription business, the point is clear: the company is trying to make Prime Video more useful and harder to ignore inside the broader Prime bundle.
Amazon said Thursday that it is integrating Luna, its cloud gaming service, into Prime Video. The rollout starts on Fire TVs in the U.S. and U.K., with games available beginning today, according to the company.
Cloud gaming means the game runs on remote servers instead of a console or high-end gaming PC in your home. The player streams the game over the internet, similar to how a movie streams, while inputs from a controller or phone are sent back to the service.
How do Prime Video games work?
Prime members can open a new “Games” tab in Prime Video and start playing on a TV using either a controller or a phone, Amazon said. Before this change, Luna games were accessed through Luna’s separate app, which was available to Prime members.
The early lineup includes a mix of major licensed games, board and party-style titles, and Amazon-developed games. Amazon named “Hogwarts Legacy,” “EA Sports FC 26,” “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle,” “Clue” and “Taboo” among the titles available at launch.
Amazon also said the catalog will include games from its own gaming division. Those include the “Courtroom Chaos” games and “Masters of the Universe: Legends Unite,” which Amazon describes as a cooperative card battler.
Jeff Gattis, general manager of gaming at Amazon, said in the company’s press release that putting Luna inside Prime Video should make games easier for Prime members to find. “For a lot of people, games have been harder to find than they should be,” Gattis said. “Bringing Luna inside Prime Video allows Prime members to discover games more naturally, and if they see one they like, they click it and they’re in. That’s less time searching and more time playing great games included with their Prime membership.”
Why is Amazon putting games in Prime Video?
Amazon said its aim is to lower the barriers to gaming by reducing the need for expensive consoles or gaming PCs. In practical terms, the company is treating games more like streaming video: something a Prime member can launch from the same entertainment screen instead of hunting through a separate service.
The move also gives Amazon another way to expand what Prime Video does beyond television and film. TechCrunch noted that the strategy echoes Netflix’s increased use of party games in recent years, while Amazon already has an in-house gaming service to plug into its streaming platform.
Amazon said it plans to add new games every month. The company also said it intends to bring the feature to more devices and additional countries in the coming months, though it did not list which devices or markets are next.
This story draws on original reporting from TechCrunch.
