Despite the failure of Stadia, Google appears to be working on another gaming project. It plans to launch a new online gaming platform called Playables. Continue reading Arium to learn more about this breaking news.
Google employees are testing Playables!
Youtube is going to launch a new gaming service called Playables. According to the Wall Street Journal, Playables is a new YouTube feature allowing users to play interactive games on this platform. This new feature was outlined in an email addressed to Google employees, and they were urged to test it. Aside from the video content, users can run games on the YouTube app for iOS and Android or on their PC via the web browser.
Is Playables a cloud gaming platform?
Playables is not like Stadia, and unlike Stadia’s focus on console games, it is currently focused on relatively simple games. Stack Bounce, an arcade game in which players drop bricks with a ball, is one of the games accessible on Playables. As a result, the games provided on this service are basic and can be readily shared with others. Furthermore, this service appears to be like Classic Atari, but we cannot be sure because we have not seen any screenshots yet. And it is not evident whether this is a cloud gaming service.
YouTube’s spokesperson also confirmed the development of this service but didn’t reveal anything and said: “Gaming has long been a focus at YouTube. We’re always experimenting with new features but have nothing to announce now.”
YouTube Gaming, the previous gaming service on YouTube!
A while ago, Google launched a gaming service for YouTube called YouTube Gaming, and it shut it down in 2019. It is no surprise that, despite these failures, Google, like other large corporations such as Netflix, would come back to cloud gaming again.
The merger of Google Stadia and YouTube signals a shift toward cloud gaming!
The merger of Stadia with YouTube was consistent with the company’s move toward cloud gaming. Finally, it ended up with features like Crowd Play, which aimed to allow YouTube users watching Stadia games to start playing games in real-time. The idea of Playables appears comparable to the concept of Stadia and YouTube merging.
How will Playables generate revenue?
Now that Google has sold Stadia to other companies, it is still being determined what Google’s revenue strategy for Playables is. However, for a platform like YouTube, where grabbing viewers’ attention is critical to its success, it’s evident how much benefit interactive games can bring.
Google Stadia’s shutdown paved the way for Playables?
Stadia only lasted three years before being formally stopped by Google in January 2023 due to its inability to meet Google’s financial profit objectives. When the news of Google Stadia’s shutdown was announced, Phil Harrison, the head of this platform, said that Google saw “clear opportunities to apply [Stadia’s] technology across other parts of Google like YouTube, Google Play, and our Augmented Reality (AR) efforts.” As a result, Playables could be a means for changes in Google’s cloud gaming investment. However, the games accessible for testing on Playables are far more straightforward than those formerly available on Stadia. Furthermore, these games are inappropriate for YouTube Gaming users, let alone players of a cloud gaming platform like Google Stadia.
So, what exactly is Playables?
Playables is more akin to Facebook’s initial gaming version, FarmVille, than to a cloud gaming platform like Xbox or Nvidia. But who knows what it will become in the end? We cannot predict what will happen to this initiative because Google has had so many ups and downs with its projects. However, it will be intriguing to see if this Tech giant will succeed in this industry or not. Time will tell, and we should only wait for further details on this service.
🔻Please visit us on Medium, YouTube, and https://arium.gg
Sources:
