The head of Amazon Gaming claims that the rising price of home consoles could be a major boon for the company’s Amazon Luna cloud gaming platform. Amazon first launched its cloud streaming platform in 2022 as an alternative to home consoles.
Cloud gaming has seen significant growth in recent years, buoyed by the rise of high-speed internet and online gaming. Many of the gaming industry’s biggest companies offer their own forms of cloud gaming, allowing players to stream games without downloading them, like Xbox Cloud Gaming and Cloud Streaming with PS Plus Premium. Nintendo has also made heavy use of cloud streaming for games that may be too big for the Nintendo Switch, including Control and Hitman 3, among others. Now, Amazon Luna may be getting an unexpected benefit from the recent RAM shortage that has plagued the gaming industry.
Amazon Luna May Benefit from Higher Console Prices
In a recent interview with The Game Business, Amazon Gaming’s General Manager Jeff Gattis spoke about Amazon Luna’s position amidst the RAM crisis. Gattis referenced Valve’s Steam Machine selling for more than $1,000 at launch, suggesting that many potential games would be in the “consideration pool for a cloud gaming solution.” Gattis stressed that Luna was not originally marketed towards hardcore gamers, instead focusing on a demographic that “hasn’t been well served by consoles and PC” with the rising cost of gaming. Amazon Luna supports a wide range of devices from PCs to mobile devices and was even recently added to Prime Video.
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Jeff Gattis shared his thoughts on the future of Amazon Luna as well, with an optimistic outlook for the service. The Amazon Gaming boss shared the skepticism of many publishers about bringing their games to Luna, noting that many feel the streaming platform could “cannibalize their sales on other platforms.” Gattis emphasized the idea that many fans using Luna would not have been able to access the games otherwise, continuing to push its Prime Video and Fire TV implementation. Amazon Luna has also continued to add big-name franchises to the platform, including the next Tomb Raider games.
Amazon Luna could look to benefit heavily from one of the biggest stories in the gaming industry in recent months. The ongoing RAM shortage has plagued the gaming industry since late 2025, exacerbated by the rising demand for RAM chips from AI data centers. Several RAM companies have adjusted their own practices and policies in response to the shortage, including Corsair making changes to its RAM kits to prevent scammers from selling fake products.
The RAM shortage has heavily impacted the price of gaming consoles, with many of the hottest platforms seeing significant spikes. Aside from the previously mentioned Steam Machine, Sony officially raised the price of the PlayStation 5 in April, increasing the price of the standard disc drive version of the console to $649.99 and even pushing the PS5 Pro to $899.99. The Xbox Series X and S also saw big price changes in late June, with the disc drive version of the Series X now selling for $799.99 for the 1 TB model. Gaming continues to become more expensive with the ongoing RAM crisis, and the trend shows no signs of slowing.
