amazon has integrated its video game service in the cloud, Moonin the application of Prime Video for Fire TV devices in Spain, Italy, France and Canada, allowing Prime subscribers to access a selection of titles without paying any extradownload files or have a console. The incorporation is part of an expansion to twelve countries that will continue in November, after the premiere of this function in the United States and the United Kingdom during the month of July, and will allow access to video games directly from the Prime Video Games tab, along with the movies and series that the platform already offers.
Amazon’s intention is to bring video games to people who have never played or who stopped playing, taking advantage of the devices they already use to enjoy entertainment at home. To find out the reasons for this initiative, the problems it entails and its possible consequences for the sector, we interviewed Jeff Gattishead of video games at Amazon, who also addresses competition against Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce NOWpaid subscriptions and the possibilities of relating Prime Video’s audiovisual productions and its game catalog.
Video games come to Prime Video
Q. Integrating Luna directly into Prime Video represents an important change in Amazon’s strategy. Why have you chosen this moment to stop treating cloud gaming as a standalone service and incorporate it into your main streaming entertainment platform?
A. Luna’s biggest difficulty has always been getting people to discover the service and get excited about trying it for the first time. Prime Video is already present on hundreds of millions of devices, spread across hundreds of millions of homes, so integrating Luna directly into the app prevents interested people from having to go to a separate app and allows us to reach them where they already are.
Q. Prime Video reaches millions of viewers who may not consider themselves regular gamers. Do you think this integration can encourage people who normally watch movies and series to also enjoy video games occasionally? How are you preparing the experience for someone who has never used Luna?
A. We believe that the potential audience for video games is much broader than that traditionally made up of console and PC players. There are billions of people who have a screen and broadband internet access, but they don’t currently play because getting started has been too complicated until now. By placing video games next to the content that these people already view on Prime Video, we try to make taking that first step as easy as possible.
Reach people who have never played
Q. Amazon is expanding this feature to twelve new countries. How are you going to evaluate the results of this deployment? Will you prioritize hours of play, controller sales, or retention of Prime subscribers?
A. For us, success is about significantly expanding the number of people who play. If someone who had never considered themselves a gamer discovers a video game through Prime Video, enjoys the experience and plays again, whether they do so frequently or occasionally, we will be expanding the video game audience, and that is precisely the opportunity that interests us most.
AWS and the importance of latency
Q. Cloud gaming is especially reliant on orders being responded to quickly. How has Amazon prepared its infrastructure of local AWS nodes in countries like Spain and Italy to reduce latency and make video games work correctly from the Prime Video application on Fire TV devices?
A. Using AWS gives us a significant infrastructure advantage because we have a global network that we can leverage to offer reduced response times in new markets. We are constantly working to deliver higher quality and reduce latency, and we will continue to refine the service as we expand our presence in these countries.
Q. Prime Video works on many different devices, from simple streaming players to high-end smart TVs. How do you guarantee consistent performance in video games, especially on more modest computers, taking into account that the application is also prepared to play high definition video?
A. One of the main advantages of cloud video games is that the most demanding processing is done on remote servers and not on the device we have at home, so the experience depends much less on the performance of the equipment we use than in traditional video games. Our goal is that when someone selects a game on Fire TV, everything works correctly and responds quickly, regardless of what device they’re using.
An alternative to Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce NOW
Q. Cloud gaming has had an uneven reception in the sector and different companies have followed quite different paths. What sets Luna’s Prime Video integration apart from services like Xbox Cloud Gaming or GeForce NOW?
A. Our proposal is different because we do not want to replace the consoles or computers of the most dedicated players, since these platforms serve that audience well. Our interest is in reaching a much larger number of people who currently do not play or who do so less than before, and the direct integration of Luna into Prime Video gives us an advantage to publicize the service and reach that audience that we consider unique in the market.
Prime and additional subscriptions
Q. As the catalog increases in these new countries, how are you going to distribute the video games included in the standard Prime subscription and additional paid options, such as Luna Premium or Ubisoft+?
A. We approach it in a similar way to Prime Video. On the one hand, we have a selection of video games included in Prime that offers reasons to try the service or play again and, on the other, a broader option through Luna Premium for people who want access to more titles. As the audience coming from Prime Video increases, the possibilities of expanding the catalog will also grow, because we will be able to offer publishing companies access to an increasing number of people interested in their games.
Spain and Italy in the international expansion of Luna
Q. Spain and Italy are part of this first stage of the expansion to twelve new markets. What makes Southern European Prime subscribers especially interesting for Luna’s international expansion?
A. They are countries that have a high number of very active Prime members and good broadband infrastructure. Bringing Luna to Prime Video in these markets allows us to simultaneously introduce the service to millions of additional households, so we can expand our presence efficiently, without needing to launch a separate app in each country.
The future of series and video games
Q. Prime Video has produced series directly related to video games, such as ‘Fallout’ and ‘Secret Level’. Can we expect a closer relationship between both forms of entertainment, for example, that it will be possible to start playing directly from the page of a series on Prime Video?
A. Having video games and audiovisual content side by side within the same application offers possibilities that did not exist before. Right now we’re focused on making the service as simple as possible to operate, but the proximity between these two forms of entertainment raises very interesting creative possibilities for the future.
Q. How do you think the separation between traditional audiovisual content and interactive video games within Amazon services will evolve over the next three or five years?
A. We believe that cloud gaming can greatly expand the sector’s audience by eliminating traditional barriers, such as the need to have specific equipment or make a significant initial outlay. We’re also thinking about how the relationship between video games and audiovisual content might evolve over time, but our immediate priority is to make discovering a game and starting to enjoy it through Luna on Prime Video as easy as possible.