YouTube Expands into Gaming Sphere with ‘Playables’
By Movieguide® Contributor
YouTube is jumping into the gaming world through its new “Playables” feature.
Playables are currently being tested and are available for Premium users to try. The feature has 37 mini-games available to play within YouTube’s platform – not requiring a download or install.
“Playables are games that can be played directly on YouTube on both desktop and mobile devices,” 9to5Google reported.
The current games library is nothing groundbreaking as it provides access to a safe selection of games such as “Angry Birds Showdown,” “Daily Solitaire” and “The Daily Crossword.” Rather than draw people into the subscription service through the feature, the company appears to be trying to sweeten the deal for current subscribers.
YouTube is one of many non-gaming companies that have expanded into the gaming sphere in recent years. Amazon launched a gaming service at the beginning of 2022 which provided access to free games for all Prime subscribers. It has seen little success and axed over 180 jobs in its gaming division earlier this year.
TikTok has seen similar results, announcing a gaming service in 2021. Earlier this month, TikTok also cut a large majority of its gaming jobs, laying off roughly 1,000 workers from its gaming division.
Netflix remains the most successful company to attempt this endeavor, with a consistently growing library of established IP alongside new games based on Netflix hits. However, despite the company’s commitment to gaming, after roughly two years of service, as little as 1% of subscribers engage with the gaming library on a daily basis.
YouTube, however, may have a major advantage over all of these companies thanks to its extensive gaming audience on its platform. Gaming is one of the largest draws of YouTube, with most of its largest creators being related to gaming in some way.
It remains to be seen if YouTube plans to turn video game offerings into a mainstay draw for its premium subscribers or if it is merely meant to be icing on the cake for those already planning on paying for the service.
Movieguide® previously reported:
According to a new report, YouTube plans to branch out from video content by adding simple video games to their platform.
The Wall Street Journal reported that YouTube is debuting a new feature, “YouTube Playables,” that will offer users simple games like the ones featured on Facebook.
For example, in “Stack Bounce,” players break bricks. The game can be played on the mobile app, as well as in a browser.
The WSJ’s report came after the outlet obtained an email detailing this new project, but YouTube has declined to comment on Playables.
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