Amazon Luna is introducing a new 720p option for users. The new feature will allow players with limited connection speeds to more easily stream games.
Luna is Amazon’s cloud game streaming service, similar to Google Stadia. The service quietly entered early access last October and has been collecting user feedback since. The Luna team says that a 720p option was a heavily requested fan feature.
“Since Luna launched into early access, we’ve regularly heard from customers on what they’re enjoying as well as areas where we can improve their experience,” says Luna. “One of the most requested features is the ability to play at lower resolutions to match unique internet connection speeds and bandwidth demands.”
The update allows players to drop their game resolution down, which would require less bandwidth and data. Luna specifically noted that the update is meant to help users with data cap limitations.
The option is currently available in the Settings tab in Luna. Subscribers can select 720p. Luna estimates that the resolution will consume 5GB/hour. By comparison, the 1080p tier uses 10GB of data an hour, while 4K demands 23GB/hour.
The pivot highlights one of the largest problems that cloud services still face. Streaming video games at high quality consistently requires a fairly fast internet connection. Many parts of the country don’t have access to the kind of internet needed to play a game from the cloud at 1080p, let along 4K. The resolution drop is a new step in addressing that obstacle.
Luna says it will continue taking user feedback and making changes to the service during its early access period.
