YouTube is going to explore the world of gaming — and this will be limited to its paid subscribers for now. All Premium users will have access to a set of online games that can be directly played on either the mobile app or the desktop app. The new feature will appear as “Playables,” which was first featured in September. Interested users will be able to play a total of 37 mini-games that effectively live inside YouTube — there’s no need to download or install them.
The selection of games isn’t too challenging or “out there” — they include crowd-pleasers like Angry Birds Showdown, Brain Out, Daily Solitaire, The Daily Crossword,and a number of arcade games. And they may not be here to stay. YouTube Premium’s notification stated that the games would be available until March 28th, 2024. For now, Premium members can find the full library of games under the “Playables” section in the Explore tab.
YouTube joins a long list of non-gaming tech companies that are trying to expand into games — often with mixed results. It should be recalled that Google recently shut down its Stadia service in January. In 2021, TikTok teased that it would be joining gaming, only for owner ByteDance to announce on Monday that it would be laying off around 1,000 workers in its gaming unit.
YouTube’s experiments are nothing new; the platform often tests features on its paid subscribers before deciding whether to add them permanently. In addition to Playables, Premium members can also sign up to try out YouTube’s conversational AI feature that lets users ask questions about videos they’re viewing.
YouTube’s new Playables feature seems less of an appeal to serious gamers than a way to sweeten the pot for its paid subscribers. The company increased its Premium plan by $2 this summer, and there have been similar streaming subscription price increases by Apple and Netflix. As these services get pricier, it is expected that some users will naturally cancel their subscriptions.
