YouTube tests new gaming feature 'Playables'

YouTube is allowing users to play games directly on the platform as part of an experiment called 'Playables'.

YouTube's New Gaming Feature 'Playables' is allowing a select number of users to play games directly on the platform. (Pexels)

YouTube, which is owned by Google, is trying out a new gaming feature called "Playables." This is a move back into gaming for Google after it stopped its Stadia gaming service in January 2023. "Playables" are games that you can play right on YouTube, whether you're on a computer or a mobile device. Google is testing this feature with a select group of users. These games will have their own section on YouTube's main page, and you can access them on both computers and phones. Whether these games will be rolled out to a larger audience is as yet unknown. However, since it is jumping into the gaming arena again, it shows that luring gamers to the platform is being taken seriously by folks at Google.

One of the games you might see on "Playables" is Stack Bounce. In this game, you bounce a 3D ball to break through layers of spinning bricks. Stack Bounce has been around on Google's mini-games service, GameSnacks, since 2021. So, if you enjoy this game, you'll probably want to try it out on YouTube, according to a TechCrunch report.

A spokesperson from YouTube said they've been interested in gaming for a long time. They're always trying out new ideas, but for now, they don't have any big announcements to make.

YouTube's Role in the Gaming World

YouTube is a popular place for people to watch others play games and to stream their own gaming adventures. So, this move into online gaming makes sense for the company. It's all part of the CEO's plan to keep growing, especially since they've seen a slowdown in advertising spending.

If you try out these games on YouTube, you can also check your game history and save your progress in the "My Activity" section.

This gaming experiment comes shortly after Google decided to shut down its Stadia gaming service because it didn't become as popular as they hoped. Stadia faced tough competition from services like Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now. According to the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority, Stadia only had a small share of the cloud gaming market in 2022, while Nvidia GeForce had a larger slice of it.