Major companies have been trying to crack the “game streaming” nut for a while now. Microsoft, Sony, Google, Nvidia, and now Amazon all have a foot in this race.
I still don’t think we’re close to streaming being a feature used at the volume that these companies are hoping for. As technology evolves though, it will find its place. Now its a race to see who can establish the strongest service.
Amazon has a good shot. Let’s see how it plays out.
Back with the news on Monday :) Thanks for reading,
Adrian
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Amazon announces game streaming service Luna
Amazon have been dipping their toes into the game industry for a while now, and today they revealed their biggest project thus far: a game streaming service called Luna. Don’t roll your eyes just yet.
Interestingly, they have positioned themselves somewhere in the middle between Google Stadia and xCloud. Like Stadia, they are available on pretty much every platform: PC, Mac, iOS, Fire TV, and Android (soon). Unlike Stadia, and like Xbox, they are offering instant access to over 100 games for $6 USD/month. The list of games included is actually pretty great.
Amazon is coming at this one with a few interesting angles. First of all, it’s powered by AWS (Amazon Web Services), which is the biggest cloud computing service in the world. The Luna controller is also worth noting — not only is it Alexa-enabled, but it connects directly to the cloud, rather than working through Bluetooth.
The most interesting angle though: Twitch. I’ll give you the press release blurb:
Inside the Luna experience, players will see Twitch streams for games in the service, and from Twitch, they’ll be able to instantly start playing Luna games.
Where Google had nothing but marketing to fall back on, Amazon has Twitch. If a streamer is playing a Luna supported game, viewers can now just click a button that will instantly allow them to play it too. That will be a big deal in the future, and I’m interested to see how they develop that further.
Customers in the US can now request an invitation to participate, but there’s no date on an early access or full launch just yet.
Left 4 Dead 2…has new DLC
Valve has just released a new major DLC for Left 4 Dead 2.
That’s not a sentence I expected to write this year. It’s called “The Last Stand,” and it started as a community creation that Valve is officially implementing. It’s free for all PC players.
It includes over 20 new survival arenas, four new scavenge arenas and a campaign based on The Lighthouse survival map. There are also 30 new achievements, melee weapons, animations, dialogue and competitive balance adjustments.
I guess if they’re going to do it, they’re gonna go big right? Left 4 Dead 2 will be free to play for the weekend, and is on sale for $2.
RuneScape arriving on Steam
After spending 20 years as a browser-exclusive, RuneScape will be arriving on Steam on October 14th. Old School RuneScape will also be there, but in early 2021.
For many of you, the game will be a relic of the past — but the game is doing better than it ever has. Old School ended up being incredibly popular, as did their port to mobile devices. Jagex have been performing extremely well financially, and have been trying to expand in a number of ways.
It’s probably not the best MMO to get into for the first time, but this might be the opportune chance to give it another look!
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