Could the New YouTube Gaming Playables Prove Revolutionary?

YouTube gaming Playables is the latest high-profile attempt of a platform to incorporate gaming into its app after the failure of Netflix and Google Stadia. However, the signs look brighter for YouTube as YouTube gaming is already a large part of their success, as many of the most popular creators in the app have links to the gaming community. For example, YouTube gaming content generated over 4 billion hours of watch time in the app in 2022. 

Thus, considering the wild statistics, it is no surprise to see YouTube place an active gaming focus in the app with direct game access. According to rumours, YouTube has already started publicly testing its upcoming playables featured in integrating games into the video hosting website alongside movie rentals, YouTube Shorts, music, and whatever else is on the platform. Today, our gaming and tech enthusiasts will cover the topic of YouTube gaming Playables and whether it will prove revolutionary.

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YouTube Is Testing Out YouTube Gaming on Playables

According to reports, YouTube started testing the YouTube gaming Playables feature on 5/9/2023, as claimed in their YouTube test features and experiment section. 

In their own words: “We are experimenting with a new experience on YouTube called Playables. Playables are games that can be played directly on YouTube on both desktop and mobile devices. If you are part of this experiment, you will see a section on YouTube called Playables that will appear alongside other content on the home feed. We are testing this with a limited number of users to start. You can view and control your Playables history and saved game progress in YouTube History.”

However, this is not the first time we heard the phrases of YouTube gaming and Playables. As we delve back to June, when leaks started circulating, we notice that YouTube was already experimenting with in-app games as they attempt to push into new areas amid advertising slowdowns. Thus, after YouTube confirms the speculations with such statements, will their endeavours succeed or fail like Netflix and Google Stadia?

Will YouTube Gaming Playables be More Successful Than Netflix and Google? 

If you support the YouTube gaming Playables project, here is a bitter pill from us as the signs do not look good since in-stream games have a mixed history. For example, the move from Netflix into mobile games has not seen a great response, as only around 1% of its user base engages with its game offerings. To put it into perspective, according to Apptopia, last year, only an average of 1.7 million people engaged with the games daily, which is less than 1% of their platform’s 221 million subscribers.

Furthermore, the attempt from Google last year also failed horrendously as their cloud-gaming service, Google Stadia, struggled to gain enough traction, likely struggling to compete with Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now. In fact, Google announced earlier this year that they had already killed off Google Stadia after several months of struggles.

Thus, past attempts from Major platforms such as Netflix and Google do not paint a promising future for Playables. However, YouTube does pose something the other two do not, which is an already established platform for gamers. Thus, whether users actually want to play games within an app primarily for videos remains a question, as YouTube has not provided any more details regarding their YouTube gaming Playables project.

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Concluding Remarks

From initial glances, YouTube gaming Playables will have more factors going in their favour in contrast to the failures of Netflix and Google. For example, YouTube can collaborate with gaming creators and gain feedback from both the creator and the fans. However, YouTube still has a lot of work to do to attract positive attention towards their new project. What is your opinion about YouTube gaming Playables? Will it succeed, or will it crash down and burn? Let us know on our social media pages like Facebook, Instagram and X. 

Frequently Asked Questions

How Does YouTube Implement YouTube Gaming Playables?  

According to what we know, the games will live in a new Playables section on the home feed of YouTube, and users can access the games on both desktop and mobile. Furthermore, the games will appear in your YouTube history, where you can also control your saved game progress. If you are one of the unfortunate ones left out of the experiment, check out our list of games you can play on PC, Xbox and PlayStation. 

What Games Do YouTube Gaming Playables Include? 

According to insiders, one game YouTube are experimenting with is Stack Bounce, created by GameSnacks. Stack Bounce is an arcade-style game where players bounce a 3D ball to break through layers of rotating brick. The simple nature could result in players wanting to play the game on Playables. However, YouTube has not confirmed whether they will include the game or others in their full release.

How to Participate in the Experiment of Incorporating YouTube Gaming to Playables?

YouTube is currently distributing the experiments to YouTube Premium users. Thus, If you have YouTube Premium, you should check your Experiments section to see if you have it now. However, if you do not have Premium right now, you can wait and see if Google rolls this out to everyone before subscribing to their Premium services.