YouTube plans new game streaming service like Netflix

YouTube is following in Netflix’s footsteps by considering offering streaming games on its platform. While this may seem like a good initiative, it’s important to remember that Google had already launched Stadia, a high-profile game streaming service that it abandoned earlier this year. It is therefore surprising to see the company trying this experiment again.

YouTube considers a new game streaming service like Netflix offers

A Playables feature as a solution for retaining Internet users?

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google has sent an internal mail to its employees, inviting them to test a new feature called ” Playables “on YouTube. This feature would allow users to play games directly from the YouTube application. It would available on iOS and Android versions versions of the application, as well as on the browser version of the site.

According to current information, the WSJ report mentions only one game that could be integrated into Playables, a game already present on the Google Play Store. This could indicate that Google is not planning to include AAA titles in this service, but rather casual games that users could play without worrying about streaming-related data consumption.

This feature may seem surprising and unconvincing, but it’s enough to arouse curiosity, given that many people have never tried services such as cloud gaming. It’s hard to say whether this new service will be a success or a failure, given that it’s impossible to say whether YouTube will adopt this feature wisely, given Google’s history of abandoned projects.

We can’t help but think of Stadiaeven if the Playables model is very different. One wonders how far Google is prepared to go to keep a service like this on its mailing list.

This novelty could be a response to the erosion of certain Internet users towards other streaming and video platforms. such as Kick or Twitch. Even if it seems late to us, and the image of Youtube as a video platform is already well established in people’s minds, we can see an evolution to keep up with the times.

For example, the arrival of shorts is a response to applications such as Tik Tok and Facebook. This short video format encourages user retention and is more in line with the platform’s DNA than a game service. It remains to be seen whether this new feature will arrive in Europe, and how successful it will be.

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