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YouTube Expands Free Gaming Ca...

GAMING AND VFX

YouTube Expands Free Gaming Catalog 'Playables' to All Users

YouTube Expands Free Gaming Catalog
The Silicon Review
29 May, 2024

The 'Playables' collection includes popular titles such as Angry Birds Showdown, Cut the Rope, Words of Wonders, Tomb of the Mask, and Trivia Crack

YouTube has announced the expansion of its free gaming catalog, 'Playables,' making it available to all users within its app and on the YouTube Home page. This follows an initial testing phase with a select group of users and a subsequent rollout to YouTube Premium subscribers in November. The 'Playables' collection includes popular titles such as Angry Birds Showdown, Cut the Rope, Words of Wonders, Tomb of the Mask, and Trivia Crack. Unlike many other gaming platforms, YouTube's Playables does not rely on paid downloads or in-app purchases for monetization, circumventing the traditional app store model and avoiding conflicts with Apple's rules.

Despite not posing a direct threat to app stores, Playables competes with free games on the App Store, which are popular among casual gamers and generate revenue through ads. As Google shifts its focus toward integrating AI, questions arise about the potential impact on its ad-driven business model. Currently, Google has not disclosed any plans to monetize Playables, but the games could serve as a means to boost user engagement on YouTube by offering entertainment during browsing sessions. In the future, Playables might evolve into another platform for serving ads.

The Playables catalog now features over 75 mini-games, with functionalities allowing players to save their progress and track high scores. YouTube's venture into gaming aligns with similar moves by other tech giants. Netflix has been enhancing its game offerings through acquisitions and development, while Epic Games and LinkedIn are also exploring gaming avenues to bypass app store commissions and increase revenue.

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