Amazon announced today that Prime Gaming is joining its suite of entertainment benefits for Amazon Prime subscribers. In the same way that one can use their subscription to access shows on Prime Video, they'll now be able to use it to claim skins, loot, and full PC games. If this sounds familiar, it's because it's just Twitch Prime with a new name.
Gamers who have an Amazon Prime subscription are probably already used to getting monthly goodies through Twitch Prime. As long as they connected their Amazon account to Twitch Prime, subscribers would get benefits like loot in Destiny 2 and exclusive skins in Apex Legends. There are also several full games that can be downloaded at no extra cost. This month, subscribers are being passed Shaq Fu 2. As of today, that process is changing... slightly.
The Amazon website now has a Prime Gaming section. This is where subscribers will go to claim their benefits from now on. The section can be accessed through this link, and benefits are easy to see as long as one is logged in. So essentially, Twitch is cut out as the middleman in the exchange.
The benefits even appear to be exactly the same. The loot and game downloads are mentioned (with emphasis on partnerships with the likes of Roblox, Riot, Rockstar), as is the free monthly Twitch channel subscription. By all accounts, it's a simple rebranding.
As to why Amazon decided to streamline the branding now, no reason is given. It could be that Amazon Prime's price is set to increase and the "addition" of Prime Gaming makes it look like a more valuable package. Or it could be that streaming is seeing huge growth with everyone stuck at home, and Amazon wants to point more people in the direction of Twitch. The company might see gaming benefits, and that free monthly subscription, as the gateway to creating tomorrow's top streaming donors.
Whatever the reason, Prime Gaming is a thing now. Prime subscribers should take advantage and claim whatever loot is relevant to them, and some of those classic SNK games. Any why not drop that monthly Twitch sub on an up-and-coming streamer while you're at it?