Products You May Like
YouTube’s new Playables feature gives players access to over 75 games.
Last summer, it was revealed that Google was testing a new feature for YouTube called Playables. This feature lets players play free online games directly in their browsers or through the YouTube app on mobile. Over the last few months, the feature was slowly rolled out across YouTube, giving a limited number of players a chance to jump in and test the feature out. Today, Google announced that Playables is now available for every YouTube user, giving them access to over 75 online games at no extra charge. Importantly, you don’t have to download anything new. Simply log into YouTube on your browser or mobile device and hop into one of the many games.
Playables Available Directly on YouTube
As mentioned, there are over 75 new games available on YouTube via Playables. Many of these are either ports of popular mobile games or spin-offs of those games that work in a browser. For example, you’ll note games like State.io, Words of Wonders, Pocket Champions, and Mob Control all have versions on Playables. The most notable games are probably Cut the Rope and Angry Birds Showdown, though there is something for everyone.
We’ve gone through and tested several of the games and it doesn’t seem like there are any microtransactions for now. Those might be added in the future, but for now, YouTube is trying to entice players to use the service. After all, this is far from the only dip Google has taken into making video games. Remember, the company previously explored creating its own console with Stadia. Of course, that didn’t end up working out for the company, but it’s always trying something new.
Google also isn’t the only major tech company that’s been jumping into games lately. Netflix, for example, has continued to invest in games, especially on mobile devices. Last year, it was revealed that God of War‘s old art director joined the streaming giant to start working on an internal AAA game. For its part, Discord has also implemented something similar to Playables with its Activities, which gives players easy access to in-server games like putt-putt and more.
It’ll be interesting to see how Playables develops moving forward. By making the games available in a browser or on a mobile device, YouTube has made it incredibly easy for players to hop into the games. If it sticks with the service long-term, this could turn into a major success for Google.