Infacet Amazon’s plan to unite video games, motion pictures and TV – together with “more games in development than at any point in our history”

Amazon has introduced that its Luna online game streaming service might be integrated into Prime Video, permitting Prime subscribers to play video games straight via the video app. It follows related strikes at Netflix, the place gaming titles have been made accessible as a part of the primary video streaming service, resulting in a “strong uptake” by gamers consequently.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Jeff Gattis, basic supervisor for Amazon Luna and Amazon Game Studios, explains the background behind the modifications, in addition to Amazon’s technique for video games going ahead, its stance on exclusivity, and the massive, unaddressed viewers for video video games.

Gattis was beforehand basic supervisor for Xbox platforms and subscriptions, and when he joined Amazon in March 2025, he discovered an organization whose disparate components did not discuss to one another. Without even counting the streaming platform Twitch, the corporate beforehand had three separate gaming divisions, all doing their very own factor solely independently.

“We had Amazon Game Studios, which of course [was] mostly making MMOs that were going on different platforms, operating really independently as a game studio,” he explains. “We had the Luna workforce, set in a distinct a part of the organisation, that had constructed this cloud expertise and was attempting to determine easy methods to set up Luna as a gaming platform. Then we had a 3rd group referred to as Prime Gaming, which was successfully a profit for Prime members, the place they gave away sport content material and different issues that you just go declare on different platforms, which is type of bizarre.

“But none of these businesses were communicating with each other. Really, we were all operating autonomously. So that’s one of the big changes we’ve made in the last year. We just kind of zoomed out and said, ‘OK, we’ve got these three things, how do we make these things work together?’ So that was the logic behind consolidating all three of these things.”

Now, all the things is organised below Gattis, who describes Amazon’s gaming group as being organised into two pillars. “Luna is our gaming platform,” he says, “and Amazon Game Studios is our development platform.”

Games produced by Amazon Game Studios might be printed on Luna, though some titles printed by Amazon, just like the upcoming Tomb Raider video games Legacy of Atlantis and Catalyst, might be accessible on different platforms as effectively. Gattis says exclusives might be selected a case by case foundation, not completely in contrast to Xbox’s technique. “We do believe in exclusives though,” he says, “and I think it’s an important part of sort of building a gaming platform.”

More usually, Gattis is worked up about bringing some joined-up considering to Amazon’s huge portfolio. He notes that the large agency has entry to a wealth of IP via Prime Video and MGM Studios, in addition to highly effective distribution and attain via Amazon Web Services and Twitch. “The problem is they’ve never been really working together to help us build a gaming platform,” he says. “So we’ve made some really good strides, coming from the top of the company all the way down, to start doing more of that integration and using those properties to help us with Luna.”

The unaddressed market

Gattis is satisfied that progress within the video games trade will not come from the innovative. “The world doesn’t need another high-end gaming platform,” he says.

“Between Steam, and PlayStation, and Xbox, even Epic Game Store, there’s lots of places to go buy these games, and increasingly play them on all the platforms. And they’re all fighting each other for the same set of customers.”

He says that traditionally, Amazon Luna tried to compete on the identical enjoying area. “The thought was we’re going to go get people to turn in their consoles and drop their gaming PCs and come to Luna. We’ve kind of abandoned that. That’s a red ocean that we don’t really want to fight in right now. But we do see opportunity for people who don’t own dedicated gaming hardware.”

He factors out that roughly 3 billion individuals play video video games, however solely round 500 million personal consoles and PCs, with the remainder principally enjoying on cell. “They like to play games, but they’re not able to play on a television screen,” Gattis says. “We think that group’s not being served.”

“They’re all fighting each other for the same set of customers”

But concentrating on that group would require a distinct method. “That’s an audience that doesn’t necessarily want to play AAA competitive shooters, but they do like big IP AAA games,” he says. “We’ve done things like Hogwarts Legacy, Indiana Jones, and obviously Tomb Raider in the future. Things that we’ve found with mass appeal IP that’s very approachable, games that aren’t incredibly difficult to play, the game mechanics aren’t super hard to learn.”

Gattis notes that Hogwarts Legacy specifically has executed “incredibly well” on Luna. “Everybody knows the IP. Everybody loves the IP. The game itself is not overly complicated to play. And so we’ve tried to take those learnings.”

That deal with simpler video games for a mass viewers echoes the approach taken by Delphi Interactive with its Netflix FIFA World Cup sport. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Delphi head Casper Daugaard identified simply how huge a chance there may be in concentrating on a extra informal viewers: “There are hundreds of millions of gamers who love football that aren’t actively playing football games.”

Gattis notes that this viewers is “probably playing mobile games today, but also would sit down in front of a TV for a 20, 30 minute session.” One approach Amazon is attempting to handle this viewers is thru an idea referred to as GameEvening on Luna, the place gamers use their telephone as a controller to play titles like trivia video games or board sport variations.

“There’s a social component of it, but the idea is that you’re not committing 60 hours to a game or watching YouTube videos to figure out how to play. And we found a lot of success with that.”

But one huge barrier to entry for Luna has been value and comfort, with the service coming as a separate subscription from Prime Video, and a separate app. But by integrating Luna into Prime, Gattis says Amazon has a prepared made viewers of “hundreds of millions” of Amazon Prime prospects – and it additionally supplies the chance to focus on big progress in rising markets for gaming.

“Some of these people may graduate to console or PC players someday”

Gattis says that the “economics don’t really work” for the incumbents on the subject of rising markets, with the sheer value of gaming {hardware} and software program appearing as a barrier to entry. “So then they need to double down on the core participant who’s spending a lot of cash each month. We haven’t got that problem at Amazon. It’s the great thing about the Prime membership. And so I believe it is simply the chance to make gaming extra accessible and to develop the pie.

“Some of these people may graduate to console or PC players someday. That’s still good for the industry. But otherwise there’s a lot of these games that these people would never be able to play.”

One-stop store

In phrases of fee for builders of Luna video games, Gattis says that offers are likely to differ, “much like they do with Game Pass.” But he emphasises that Amazon is licensing third-party content material for the service, and holding it on there for longer. “Historically with Luna and Prime Gaming, there were things that were going on for a month. And that’s just not enough time. People don’t believe in your service if things are coming and going all the time. So we’ve been signing a lot longer term.”

Gattis additionally needs to deal with a transmedia method, forging nearer ties between Luna video games and Amazon’s movie and TV portfolio. “A big part of our content strategy going forward is going to be leveraging Amazon IP,” he says. “I believe that is an trade factor as an entire. You’re seeing this integration begin to occur between video, TV and interactive video video games.

“It’s been things like Fallout, where there’s a game and there’s a TV show, but I think it’s even going to get tighter over time, where these video games are effectively going to be more of an extension of your movie or TV experience.”

He factors to the launch of the cardboard battler Masters of the Universe: Legends Unite on Luna to tie in with the launch of the Masters of the Universe film, in addition to the Tomb Raider TV present and upcoming video games. “The vision for us is to get to much more of this world where you can imagine going into Prime Video and seeing a page that is much more about fandom and IP, as opposed to ‘here’s a bunch of shows’. So you see the Tomb Raider TV show, here’s the Tomb Raider video game, here’s Tomb Raider merchandise you can buy on Amazon.com.”

“Imagine going into Prime Video and seeing a page that is much more about fandom and IP”

In phrases of the general mixture of content material on the newly built-in Luna service, Gattis says there are numerous first-party titles in improvement, and he notes that first-party and authentic titles are “always part of building a platform. So we believe in that. But obviously the lion’s share of our hours are going to come from third party content. So it’s a huge part of the service.”

But Gattis emphasises the significance of exclusives. “We don’t want to be a place where you can just play the same games you can play everywhere else. That was the old Luna strategy.”

James Bond and past

Amazon hit the headlines in June when it was reported that Amazon Game Studios can be publishing future James Bond video games, after the not too long ago launched 007: First Light was self-published by IO Interactive.

Gattis says that nothing has been determined. “We did not confirm anything about who’s publishing or developing the next Bond sequel,” he says. “Like Hakan [Abrak, IOI CEO] mentioned, we’ve not even mentioned it actually but. The sport’s superior. That’s nice. I believe it is sensible to suppose that there can be a sequel. Technically, Amazon does personal the rights to the sport, however we’ll do what’s proper by the sport, we’re not attempting to carry all the things into Amazon.

“Given the success of this one, I think you probably want IOI developing it.”

“We’re going to do what’s right by the game, we’re not trying to bring everything into Amazon”

When requested whether or not Amazon would contemplate buying IO Interactive in future, Gattis replies that “anything’s possible,” however provides that there are “no conversations about that right now.”

Right now, Amazon has plenty of its personal content material within the works. “We’ve actually got more games in development at Amazon right now than we’ve had at any point in our history,” says Gattis. “Now, they’re not all AAA games. Some of them are. Others range all the way down to those kind of GameNight experiences and some innovative stuff.”

He additionally factors to Amazon publishing the Tomb Raider titles. “Not all AAA has to be developed in-house.”

But apparently, Amazon not too long ago pulled out of a publishing cope with UK studio Maverick Games for its upcoming driving title Clutch, which was showcased at Summer Game Fest in June. “We took a look at the entire portfolio across the board,” says Gattis by the use of rationalization. “This happens anytime new leadership comes in: let’s assess everything we’re doing. Like happens in video games, lots of projects don’t see the light of day. Unfortunately it’s hard when you have to do that.

“But I think our assessment of that was just that we didn’t see a real fit in the market for that game. I hope I’m wrong, in some ways, for the sake of the game. I want games to be made.”

However, though Amazon is not supporting the sport, Clutch remains to be going forward, now self-published by Maverick. Whether there actually is a market match for the title stays to be seen – UK writer Secret Mode definitely appears to suppose that the racing sport area of interest is underserved. The writer, which is behind Star Wars: Galactic Racer, instructed GamesIndustry.biz earlier this yr that the driving sport viewers is “voracious for new experiences.”

In phrases of the way forward for Luna and Amazon Prime, in the meantime, Gattis is bullish. He says that when Luna was relaunched again in October with the GameEvening experiences, the variety of energetic customers went up by 5 occasions, though from a “relatively small base,” he admits. “But that is an actual sign for us that what we’re doing is working.

“There’s a couple hundred million Prime members worldwide. We do not have a couple hundred million people in Luna right now. So that’s our market opportunity.”