YouTube is adding a new string to its bow with gaming! You can now play 75 mini-games directly on the platform, without having to pay or download anything. Perfect for a break between two videos!
Despite its dismal failure with Stadia, its cloud gaming service, Google persists in trying to establish itself as a player in the video game sector. This time, no game console on the program, nor even a new platform, but a new function for YouTube, called Playables (“Integrated Games” in French). It allows you to play no less than 75 mini-games online for free, directly from the platform, without having to download them. If it was deployed last November for subscribers to YouTube’s premium service, it is now extended to all users, as Google announced in a statement.
YouTube Playables: games accessible directly from the platform
The catalog of 75 titles provides access to casual games, like crosswords, as well as popular mobile titles, like Angry Birds Showdown!, Words of Wonders, Tomb of the Mask, Trivia Crack, Stack Bounce And Cut the Rope. They are available without downloading on the Android, iOS and computer versions of YouTube. Players have the ability to save their progress and track their high scores. For the moment, the service does not include advertisements or in-app purchases.
To take advantage of it, go to the “Explore” tab on the left of the interface. You simply need to have Internet access. You may not have access to it yet, as the feature is currently being rolled out. So a little patience!
While it was once a simple video host, YouTube has grown considerably over time, and now offers live TV shows, a VoD service, music, podcasts, and more. With Playables, the platform adds the world of gaming to its many strings. The aim of the approach is certainly to strengthen the engagement of its users. A strategy which is reminiscent of that of Netflix, which is also gradually launching into cloud gaming in order to diversify its activities, with the difference that everything here is 100% free. Recently, LinkedIn also did the same by hosting three mini-games.