YouTube Gaming: Playables Arrive for All Users
Last year, Google introduced Playables, a gaming service initially available only to Premium subscribers as a pilot run. However, the tech giant has now announced that Playables will be accessible to all YouTube users. This move aims to bring interactive gaming experiences directly to the YouTube platform, allowing users to play games on both desktop and mobile devices.
What are Playables?
Playables are essentially games that can be played directly on YouTube. Users can access and enjoy these games without the need for additional downloads or installations. “After testing Playables with a limited group of users, we’re expanding this experiment to more users in the US, Great Britain, Canada & Australia,” Google announced.
Finding and Playing Games on YouTube
To discover Playables, users can visit the main YouTube Home page, either on desktop or through the iOS and Android app. The games will be accessible from the Explore menu. Currently, there are more than 75 games available, including popular titles like Angry Birds Showdown, Words of Wonders, and Cut the Rope.
Sharing and Saving Progress
One of the interesting features of Playables is the ability to share games with friends. Users can tap the three-dot more menu to share a game they’re playing. Additionally, players can save their game progress and keep track of their all-time best scores, allowing them to pick up where they left off.
Gradual Rollout
Google has acknowledged that the rollout of Playables will be gradual, and it may take some time before the feature becomes available to all users. However, the company expects Playables to appear for most users in the coming months.
Google’s Renewed Push into Gaming
While Playables marks Google’s renewed push into the gaming market, it’s not the company’s first foray into this space. A couple of years ago, Google launched Stadia, a dedicated gaming service. However, in 2023, the company announced the shutdown of Stadia due to its failure to gain significant traction among users.
With Playables, Google is taking another shot at gaming, this time by integrating interactive experiences directly into the YouTube platform. By offering a diverse range of games and making them easily accessible to a vast audience, Google aims to capture a portion of the ever-growing gaming market.
As the rollout of Playables progresses, it will be interesting to see how users respond to this new gaming experience and whether it can succeed where Stadia fell short.
