Amazon.Com Inc launched the cloud game service Luna at today's annual Alexa hardware event, an event that marks Amazon.Com Inc's entry into the competition of the cloud game industry.

Users can already request to enjoy this trial cloud game service in advance through Luna's website. However, Amazon.Com Inc still did not disclose that the service is suitable to confirm that it is open to all players.

Previously, major players in the market included Alphabet Inc-CL C's Stadia, Microsoft Corp's xCloud, Sony Group Corp's PlayStation Now, and some major game publishers' cloud game services.

The so-called cloud game refers to the game mode based on cloud computing. In the operation mode of the cloud game, all the games run on the server side, and the rendered game screen is compressed and transmitted to the user through the network.

Translated into Chinese, that isGame operators are responsible for downloading, running, updating and maintaining games, while consumers are only responsible for playing games at home.

The industry came into being with the rapid development of communication technology.

1 disguise the iOS application to "borrow a shell"

Luna, which is still in its infancy, will support Amazon.Com Inc's own Fire TV platform, the PC side of Microsoft Corp's Windows system, and Apple Inc Mac, iPhone, iPad and other iOS terminals.

Android is not currently supported by Luna. Mark Whitton (Marc Whitten), vice president of entertainment equipment and services at Amazon.Com Inc, said the Android version could not be released for weeks.

The market predicts that Luna will log on to Apple Inc's App Store in the form of progressive web application (PWA).

The essence of PWA is a kind of behavior of "borrowing a shell to get on the shelf". This means that after the user downloads and opens Luna on App Store, the game will run on the web-based Amazon cloud game terminal. Amazon.Com Inc can use PWA to bypass the 30 per cent handling fee charged by Apple Inc for iOS local applications.

However, there is still no accurate information on whether PWA will be adopted in the end. George George Tsipolitis, director of engineering technology at Luna, said he was communicating with Apple Inc's Safari team to reach a final agreement.

Prior to this, Amazon.Com Inc and Apple Inc have reached an agreement that the member video service Prime Video will be settled through Amazon.Com Inc's internal charging system, and users do not need to pay extra fees to Apple Inc.

But Apple Inc for the game products "backdoor on the shelf" behavior is strict, which has led to lawsuits from Epic Games and other well-known technology companies.

On September 11, Apple Inc updated the App Store audit guide to allow cloud game applications such as Project xCloud and Stadia to be put on the shelves, but the company stressed that all games must still be downloaded directly from App Store.

2 less than Microsoft Corp, but more than Alphabet Inc-CL C

Amazon.Com Inc plans to sell about 100 game products on the Luna platform.

Games supported by Luna at this stage include "biochemical Evil 7", "Control", "Tacoma", "Rez Unlimited", "Metro: escape", "charming cruelty" and "boiled! II "and so on.

Amazon.Com Inc also cooperated with Ubisoft and is expected to put on the platform works such as "isolated Island Wonder 6", "Assassin's Creed: the Hall of the Soul" and "the Legend of Fenix". Amazon.Com Inc internally estimates that Ubisoft's games will account for 50 per cent of all games on the Luna platform at this stage.

By contrast, xCloud, owned by Microsoft Corp, seems to provide players with more choices. Microsoft Corp recently integrated his xCloud cloud game platform with Game Pass Ultimate, a XBox console membership service, and the number of games available is about 150.

Microsoft Corp also recently spent $7.5 billion to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda, a distributor of storable video games. This is the largest layout of the game industry since Microsoft Corp was founded. After the acquisition of Bethesda, Microsoft Corp can get a large number of successful game franchises, which will help promote Microsoft Corp's Game Pass business and xCloud project.

Alphabet Inc-CL C's Stadia platform has 50 games, most of which need to be purchased separately.

After evaluating the operation of the Luna platform, some foreign netizens said that the occasional Catton will not affect the cloud gaming experience. Amazon.Com Inc promised that Luna will provide games with a resolution of up to 1080p, running at 60 frames per second, and will launch games with a resolution of 4K in the future. The network speed requirements for the two kinds of definition are 10Mbps and 35Mbps, respectively.

Huawei's 5G test report in Italy shows that the peak network speed is as high as 4.52Gbps, while Samsung's 5G is the fastest in South Korea to reach 2.7Gbps.

3 the tripod of the cloud game

With the demise of large multinational corporations in the United States, it can be predicted that the cloud game industry will usher in a wave of tuyere. Under such circumstances, the cloud game market has formed a trend of catching up with each other.

The operation of the Luna platform will be based on Amazon.Com Inc's cloud computing service AWS. AWS is one of the few services in the world that can support cloud games. Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc-CL C, who are currently in the North American market, also have such cloud computing capabilities.

1. Alphabet Inc-CL C: lack of kinetic energy

In this competition, Alphabet Inc-CL C's Stadia appears to be lack of momentum at present.

The coverage of the platform is limited by the large screen-based application scenarios and the inability to go online across platforms. in addition, after a large amount of money has been invested to buy equipment, most games on the Stadia platform still have to pay separately.

What is more deadly is that Alphabet Inc-CL C has little experience in the field of game development. To lay out game development, Alphabet Inc-CL C bought Montreal-based game company Typhoon Studios in late 2019, founded by Alex Hutchinson, a former creative director of Ubisoft, but has so far released only one game, Journey to the Wild Planet.

Compared with Microsoft Corp, who has long laid out the game industry, Alphabet Inc-CL C's foundation is really thin.

two。 Microsoft Corp: the "old player" of the game industry

Microsoft Corp not only has made some achievements in the game industry on the basis of 20, but also its XBox game console occupies a strong position in the video game market, which is inseparable from Sony Group Corp's PS series, which comes from behind.

Although the recent era of fierce competition in the game console field has basically come to an end, in the face of the next round of game sealing, Microsoft Corp combines the past advantage business XBox with the cloud business Azure layout, which will bring strategic advantages to be reckoned with. Microsoft Corp's cloud business in recent years has pushed the company's market capitalization to exceed 1.5 trillion US dollars, equivalent to more than 10 times the market capitalization of Sony Group Corp.

3. Amazon.Com Inc: the forerunner of Business Cloud

Although Amazon.Com Inc started relatively late in the game field, as the "boss" of e-commerce and the nominal pioneer of commercial cloud computing, his first-mover advantage should win back a game for him-the existing ecosystem and developers are Amazon.Com Inc's unusually strong barrier at present. Amazon.Com Inc is also ahead of Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc-CL C in some key services and functions.

However, the ability to seamlessly integrate with existing products is still a major advantage of Microsoft Corp's cloud computing services. At present, in order to establish a complete cloud ecosystem, there is a low threshold for Azure to move existing user groups to Azure.

4. If you have a salary in your hand, don't panic.

Expanding the capital barrier of the cloud game market will also affect the development of the whole market pattern. Compared with Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc-CL C, Amazon.Com Inc is a little strapped for money.

Amazon.Com Inc's revenue as of 2020Q2 was $88.912 billion, but the net interest rate was only 4.1%. The company's final cash flow recorded $37.842 billion and cash and equivalents held $71.392 billion.

Microsoft Corp's 2020Q2 revenue is only $38.033 billion, but its net profit is $11.202 billion and its net interest rate is nearly 30%. At the same time, the company's final cash flow balance was $13.576 billion, up 20% from the previous year; cash and equivalents were as high as $136.527 billion.

Alphabet Inc-CL C 2020Q2 has revenue of $38.297 billion, net profit of $6.959 billion and net interest rate of only 19%. Cash flow at the end of the period is only $17.742 billion, but cash and equivalents are $121.08 billion.

But we also see that the ultimate winner of an industry is not necessarily the company with the best foundation and the strongest financial resources in the industry. The opportunity to overtake at the corner is always there. At this point, we have to return to one of the most fundamental drivers in the business world: supply and demand.

How to make a good game platform, how to continuously improve the consumer experience of players, the company should pay most attention to.