A criminally underrated gaming perks package, Prime gaming — also known as Amazon Game Pass— is a robust suite of benefits for gamers. It includes free games to download, exclusive in-game content, and even a free Twitch channel subscription with unique subscriber-only chat privileges.
Throughout 2023, Prime members can claim free games worth more than $2,300 in value. You can learn more about this great addition to the Amazon Prime membership over at this blog post.
Free Games Every Month
Every month, Prime members get access to a selection of free games available to download and play through the service. These titles include a mix of big-budget, popular games from recent years as well as indie releases.
The games vary from month to month, but many of them are worth checking out. Some of the highlights this month include a free version of Scribblenauts: A Tiny Sticker Tale, a chance to explore irradiated wastelands in Fallout 76 and an opportunity to help a group of atypical heroes in Weird West Definitive Edition.
In addition to the downloadable titles, there are also a lot of in-game rewards available to claim through Prime gaming. Some of these are time-limited offers, such as a random standard epic card in Hearthstone and the Rosewood Moira Epic Mount in Overwatch 2 that’s available until Feb. 5.
Some of these in-game rewards require that you link your game account with your Prime membership. This is necessary to claim some of the offers in games like VALORANT and League of Legends, as it tells the game that you’re a Prime member and allows you to unlock content without paying additional money. This feature is a nice benefit that makes it well worth adding Prime gaming to your gaming setup.
Free In-Game Content and Loot
Prime gaming is an extra service that comes with the $9.99 per month price of an Amazon Prime subscription. It features a rotating selection of free games for download and in-game loot for many popular video game titles. Prime gaming also offers access to Twitch, which can be beneficial for gamers that play competitive games.
Unlike Xbox Game Pass, which offers subscribers a library of downloadable video games that they can keep even if they drop their subscription, Prime Gaming offers a small selection of free-to-download games each month. Prime members can also claim in-game loot bonuses, such as weapons, costumes and other items, for several popular games, including Battlefield 2042, Fall Guys and Genshin Impact.
To claim these games, players need to install the Amazon Games app and link their Prime account. This tells the game that the player is a Prime member and allows the user to download and play their game for free. For some games, such as Riot’s VALORANT and League of Legends, the Prime Gaming content needs to be linked to a specific game account.
The free in-game items offered by Prime Gaming can add a lot of value to a game. For example, in a recent drop for Sea of Thieves, Prime members were able to claim a variety of pirate and ship cosmetics that they could use to deck out their trusty vessel.
Twitch Subscriptions
In addition to the free games available each month, Prime Gaming members also have access to a collection of in-game items and a free monthly subscription to a Twitch Partner or Affiliate channel. This offers subscribers a chance to get their hands on blockbuster titles for free as well as subscription perks like chat privileges, progress badges and emotes.
The selection of in-game content varies each month. For example, in June 2022, gamers could claim Star Wars Battlefront 2, Weird West Definitive Edition and Genesis Noir. These games are all available to download and keep, and in-game items include currency, cosmetic packs and more. These offers are only valid for a few weeks at a time, so be sure to claim them before they expire.
Subscribers can also support their favorite streamers by giving them a recurring monthly donation, which will unlock subscription perks in the gamer’s channel. Many streamers encourage this, as it provides them with a source of supplemental income and can snowball month-over-month as more people opt-in to support them.
However, some streamers use ad-free viewing to lure viewers into paying for their services, which can result in accidental overcharges. To avoid this, it’s important to pay with a virtual card like the Privacy Card so that you can limit how much any service can charge you.
Access to Amazon Luna
Prime gaming adds another perk, and it’s a unique one: a small selection of games from cloud game-streaming service Amazon Luna. While Luna is a standalone service that costs $9.99 a month and includes a growing catalog of games, Prime members can access a rotating list of five of these titles for free through the Prime Gaming channel. As of December 2022, you can also play Ubisoft games you own through the service (including Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Far Cry 6) with an active Ubisoft Plus subscription.
Luna is a service that can be used on desktop computers, Apple devices like iPads and Macs, and Amazon Fire TV smart televisions. Players can broadcast themselves while they play through a camera feed on the device’s screen, similar to how popular “Let’s Play” streams are hosted on Twitch.
The selection of games available for free through the channel rotates monthly, with titles such as Devil May Cry 5, Observer: System Redux, PHOGS!, Flashback, and (from March 8-15) Immortals Fenyx Rising available. The free-to-play selection often includes bigger titles that you might not find on services like Xbox Game Pass or PlayStation Plus.
However, the main drawback of the service is that it requires an internet connection with a minimum speed of 10Mbps for full HD streaming (up to 35Mbps for 4K when that becomes available). This could lead to slower speeds during heavy gaming sessions or a surprise bill at the end of the month if you don’t have an unlimited data plan.
