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Amazon’s idea of improving Luna involves stripping back most of it

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Why This Matters

Amazon Luna is significantly reducing its features by eliminating game purchases, third-party stores, and certain subscriptions, simplifying the platform to a basic subscription model. This move highlights the risks of cloud gaming, where users depend on service providers for access to their games. Consumers and the industry should consider the implications of platform dependency and the importance of ownership in digital gaming.

Key Takeaways

C. Scott Brown / Android Authority

TL;DR Amazon Luna is dropping game purchases, third-party stores, and Luna-sold Ubisoft Plus and Jackbox subscriptions today.

Previously purchased and Bring Your Own Library games stay playable on Luna until June 10.

Amazon says it is simplifying Luna, but affected players are clearly losing options.

The obvious trust problem with cloud gaming is that if your games live on someone else’s servers, you’re ultimately at the mercy of whatever that company decides to do next. Amazon Luna users are getting a fresh reminder of that today, as Amazon strips back several of the service’s key features and pushes it toward a much simpler subscription model.

In a new Amazon customer help page, the company says Luna will no longer offer individual game purchases, third-party subscriptions, or third-party game stores starting April 10. That means support is ending for Luna-sold subscriptions to Bring Your Own Library, Ubisoft Plus, and Jackbox, as well as storefront integrations with EA, Ubisoft, and GOG.

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Amazon says previously purchased a-la-carte titles will remain playable through Luna until June 10, after which they’ll be removed from the platform. The same deadline applies to games you were playing through Bring Your Own Library, although Amazon says purchased titles should still be accessible through the third-party account you originally linked.

There are a few other details worth noting. If you subscribed to Ubisoft Plus or Jackbox through Luna, Amazon says those subscriptions will be automatically canceled after one final renewal at the end of the current billing cycle, unless you cancel sooner yourself. Save data for affected titles will also be available to download for 90 days after June 10, though Amazon warns that compatibility with other platforms will vary by publisher and game.

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