What’s Going On Here?Amazon wants to play a game, and Google isn’t going to like it: the tech giant announced its foray into the video game streaming industry late last week. What Does This Mean?Amazon unveiled Luna, a service that’ll let gamers play famous titles without the need for a console or physical games. The company has claimed it doesn’t want to replace consoles, mind you, and argues that streamed games will attract a different audience altogether. It’s also said Luna will cost $5.99 a month at first, which undercuts Google’s rival streaming games service, Stadia.
Stadia – which could help Google grow YouTube into a massive gaming and esports hub – should give the company’s online advertising a boost. But Amazon’s new venture could lead to synergies of its own: the tech conglomerate might combine Luna with existing video streaming service Twitch – where over 800 million hours of content is viewed every month – to create yet another giant subscription and advertising business. Why Should I Care?For you personally: New battlegrounds.
Between Amazon, Apple, Google, and, of course, Netflix’s various movie and music streaming services, Big Tech is fighting for every dollar available – and now that fight has come to video games (tweet this). Besides Google, Amazon also has stiff competition in Microsoft, whose Xbox segment is still growing at the rate of knots. But who cares about them? You’re the real winner from competition like this, with lower prices and even more choice. Just look at Apple’s recently announced subscription bundles…
The bigger picture: New levels.
The $150 billion video games market – which is changing almost as fast as it’s growing – is increasingly moving away from one-time purchases and toward subscription and freemium options. Fortnite – a pioneer of the latter – made $2 billion last year, mostly from in-game purchases. But with lockdowns looming and a new PlayStation and Xbox coming soon, there could be life in the old console business yet. | 
