Amazon spent years trying to turn its gaming assets into a unified ecosystem that could challenge Steam’s dominance on PC. The effort has effectively collapsed.
A new report reveals that Amazon’s strategy centered on connecting Twitch, Prime Gaming, the Amazon Games launcher, and later Luna cloud streaming into a single platform where people would discover, buy, and play PC games. None of it worked.
The company made several concrete attempts. In 2017, Twitch rolled out a “Buy this game” button that appeared below live streams. Viewers could purchase whatever game they were watching, with streamers earning a revenue cut. The feature disappeared quietly after failing to drive meaningful sales.
Prime Gaming became another key pillar. The service offered monthly free games to Prime subscribers, but many major titles came as redemption keys for other stores like GOG and Epic. Instead of building habits around Amazon’s own launcher, the giveaways trained users to claim games elsewhere.
Amazon maintained its own PC launcher for games, but it never approached Steam’s feature set. The platform lacked robust community tools, library management, and the social features that keep players anchored to Valve’s service. Adoption remained minimal.
Luna arrived in 2020 as Amazon’s cloud gaming play. The service offered instant access without downloads and integrated Prime Gaming benefits. But Luna’s library and visibility stayed modest compared to Steam’s massive footprint.
Amazon’s first-party development efforts followed a similar pattern. The hero shooter Crucible launched in 2020, then got pulled and canceled within months. A Lord of the Rings MMO was announced and later scrapped in 2021 after corporate changes with a development partner.
New World represents Amazon’s most successful internal project. The MMO launched in 2021 and received a relaunch as New World: Aeternum in 2024. It remains the company’s flagship title.
Publishing deals gave Amazon a broader portfolio. Lost Ark launched in the West through Amazon in 2022. The company also handles regional publishing for Blue Protocol and Throne and Liberty. These partnerships didn’t translate into a dominant retail platform.
The strategy hit organizational roadblocks. Multiple reports have described Amazon’s game teams as siloed, with shifting priorities that hindered coordinated execution. Building a Twitch-integrated storefront required alignment across divisions that never fully materialized.
Steam’s advantages proved insurmountable. Players already had years of library investments, friend networks, achievements, and familiar tools on Valve’s platform. Amazon offered no compelling reason to switch. Even Epic Games struggled to pull users away from Steam despite giving away billions in free games and securing major exclusives.
Amazon conducted significant cutbacks in 2023, eliminating roughly 180 roles across game-related operations. The company shut down Crown Channel and Game Growth, two initiatives tied to its broader gaming ambitions. Prime Gaming teams were among those affected.
What’s left of Amazon’s gaming push
Today, Luna remains active with a rotating library for Prime members and optional paid channels. Amazon continues publishing select titles and operating New World. But the vision of becoming a mainstream PC storefront competitor to Steam is over.
The disconnect between potential and execution stands out. Amazon owned Twitch, the platform where millions watch gaming content daily. Prime Gaming delivered monthly games to tens of millions of subscribers. The company had infrastructure, reach, and resources.
Yet the pieces never connected into a cohesive store experience. Twitch viewers didn’t become Amazon game buyers. Prime giveaways didn’t anchor users to Amazon’s launcher. Luna didn’t offer enough differentiation to overcome Steam’s inertia.
