For a number of reasons, YouTube has been in the news these past several weeks. The platform is taking strong action against users who use ad blockers to prevent advertisements from appearing on the site. However, YouTube has just started to release Playables for its Premium customers, who may also choose to play videos in the background and won’t see any commercials in between.
YouTube is competing with businesses like Netflix, which is also placing significant bets on online gaming, by adding games to its platform for paying subscribers. Playables appear to be Google’s attempt to rebrand Stadia, the online gaming site it once called Apple Arcade but which it shut down for an unspecified reason.
Popular arcade games will probably be available on YouTube Playables in the beginning, and in the near future, additional well-known titles should be available to YouTube subscribers who have paid for access.
According to YouTube, all you have to do to make Playables function on your phone is enable the functionality using the normal YouTube app settings. Playables don’t require any other apps. YouTube Premium subscribers will be able to access the arcade games on both the PC and mobile apps. Another interesting feature of Playables is that, at launch, the tab will have roughly 37 games available, including well-known titles like Angry Birds Showdown.
Some premium customers have begun receiving notifications from the platform regarding Playables and how to use the new tab on their YouTube account. Strangely, YouTube also states that Playables will be accessible till March 28, 2024, or around 4 months from now. The company will likely base its decision to keep the tab active or close it down, similar to what happened with Stadia earlier this year, on how popular it is. As the name suggests, you cannot enjoy background playback, ad-free videos, or Playables on YouTube if you do not have a subscription.
Topics #Ads #advertisement #games #Google #Larry Page #news #Premium #YouTube #Youtube Premium
