Fortnite arrives on Amazon Luna today

Fortnite, one of the world’s most popular games, has also become a de facto test of the public’s interest in streaming games like they stream YouTube or Netflix. It’s been completely free to stream from Nvidia’s GeForce Now or Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming to almost any device you own, no download and no paid subscription required.

Today, Amazon Luna is joining them. “Fortnite has been the most requested game from Luna customers in the U.S. and we’re thrilled to bring the title to the service,” reads a statement from Amazon devices and services VP Daniel Rausch.

Unlike its competitors, Amazon will require a paid subscription to start — albeit one you might already pay for.

You can stream Fortnite for free with the same Amazon Prime subscription you might already use for free shipping, Prime Video, Prime Music and so on. While he originally told us it would only be for the month of May, Amazon third-party spokesperson Eric Nielsen now tells The Verge that “Fortnite will be a Prime Gaming offer indefinitely so it will always be free to play for Prime members.”

Or, you can pay $9.99 a month for a Luna+ subscription (the first seven days are free). Just know that the Luna+ catalog of games wasn’t very large the last we checked. (Note: Nvidia limits free accounts to an hour per session, so it has caveats of its own.)

Regardless of how you feel about a subscription, I like that it’s becoming increasingly easy to compare cloud gaming services and see which might deliver reliable streaming to your house. You could try Amazon’s, Microsoft’s, and Nvidia’s offerings all in a single day on your phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, handheld, etc. and only have one trial subscription to cancel if it’s not working out. All of these services have weaknesses, so it’s a good idea to try them out before you buy.

Just know that the free tiers of these services are not totally representative of the paid experience, which can be better, especially with Nvidia. I wish it had a free trial of the 3080 or 4080 tier to show you.

Correction, 11:07AM ET: Though an Amazon rep confirmed last night that it would only be available to Prime members through the month of May, they now say that was wrong and it will be available indefinitely for members.