YouTube is spreading its reach as the company invests in the gaming space, but only for paying subscribers. The video streaming platform is letting its premium userbase access a set of 30 games that can be played on either the mobile or desktop app.
This experimental feature is known as “Playables,” and the company first debuted it to select users back in September. According to Droid Life, YouTube sent a notification last week to Premium users that the feature is now available, which incidentally suggests that this function can be toggled.
Great to see Phaser games as YouTube Playables. Worked flawlessly, nice integration (only tested on desktop) pic.twitter.com/hzuNHgWmV5
— threads.net/@photonstorming (@photonstorm) November 27, 2023
If the user is interested in playing any of these games, they have a total of 37 games to choose from, such as Angry Birds Showdown, Merge Master, Stack Bounce, and Daily Solitaire, to name a few. These games can be found under the Explore tab of the app, and a single tap takes you to the Playables space.
It is worth noting that this would be the second time Google has tried its hand in gaming, the first of which was with the now-defunct Google Stadia, but it is the first time they added gaming to the video sharing platform. However, it seems the Playables will follow the discontinued cloud gaming service quite soon, as Premium users also received a notification stating that the games are only available until 28 March, 2024.
As suggested earlier, YouTube is no stranger to experimental features; the platform also releases these features almost exclusively to its premium userbase before deciding whether to add them permanently. The Verge also pointed out that the Playables are more of a retention tool for premium users than a draw for serious gamers.
A lot of people have linked this to the company raising the monthly cost of their Premium Family plan from RM26.90 to RM33.90. Though it is hard to believe, it is not impossible that someone might find this addition appealing enough that they would pay for one more month.
(Source: The Verge, Droid Life, TechNave)
