According to The Wall Street Journal, YouTube is currently testing a product for playing online video games. The company’s plan to expand beyond hosting video content and into the realm of video game sharing was the subject of an email sent to Google employees.
The feature is already named Playables, and it will enable users to access games on both mobile devices and desktop computers. Google has extended invitations to its employees inviting them to test out their latest gaming platform. The WSJ team was also able to view it too.
Users can instantly play games on the YouTube website or through the YouTube mobile app for iOS and Android. For gaming enthusiasts, YouTube has become a go-to destination for watching live streams of video game competitions. It’s a popular arena where YouTube competes with rival platform Amazon’s Twitch to capture the attention of viewers who are eager to watch their favourite gamers compete in real-time.
YouTube is entering another aspect of the online gaming industry by hosting games, as the platform aims to boost its advertising revenue. Despite the challenges faced by the online gaming industry, a company representative affirmed that YouTube has always prioritized this niche. Online gaming enthusiasts can rest assured that they will continue to find quality content and support on the platform.
It is not known how Google plans to profit from the new YouTube product. Even game developers are struggling to make money in the post-pandemic world. Once-popular titles like Angry Birds no longer generate the revenue they once did. Google announced last year that it would be shutting down Stadia, a service that enabled users to stream games directly from the cloud to multiple devices.
Despite this, the number of subscribers did not take off. Stadia’s chief, Phil Harrison, saw an opportunity for YouTube to leverage Stadia’s technology and create a new revenue stream through video streaming.
YouTube is currently testing some simple games that were popular on platforms like WeChat and Facebook in the past. To clarify, the games available on YouTube may not be the most recent and popular titles, as Google reserves those for the Play Store and takes a 30% cut of in-app purchases.
