Google is currently internally testing a new online gaming service hosted on its YouTube streaming platform. Called Playables , it will allow Google to exploit technologies developed for Stadia, which closed at the start of the year.
Is gaming the future of video streaming services? After Netflix , it’s YouTube’s turn to launch into video game hosting. The information comes from the Wall Street Journal , which had access to an email sent internally to the Google subsidiary. The message invited employees to test a new YouTube product called Playables , which would allow people to play online games on the platform.
This new functionality will be available directly in the browser on a computer, or in the mobile application on a smartphone equipped with Android or iOS. One of the games offered is called Stack Bounce , a game already available as a mobile application, where you have to crush bricks with a ball.
An audience of more than two billion YouTube users
This news comes as Google closed Stadia , its cloud gaming service , at the start of the year. The service had failed to attract enough players. With Playables , Google will be able to count on more than two billion active users on YouTube , who will be able to access games without needing to install anything. This would also allow YouTube to better compete with Twitch, Amazon’s video streaming platform mainly focused on video games, and could represent a new source of revenue by taking a percentage of sales and microtransactions.
“ Games have long been at the heart of YouTube’s priorities ,” a company spokesperson said in a press release. We’re still experimenting with new features, but we don’t have anything to announce at this time. » Google regularly tests new services internally, but not all of them make it to a general public launch. So you don’t have to hold your breath…
