YouTube reportedly experimenting with online games

YouTube has reportedly started experimenting with a new online gaming service called Playables. This development arrives mere months after Google shut down Stadia, its high-profile moonshot project which unsuccessfully tried bringing cloud gaming into the mainstream.

YouTube has started testing the new gaming product internally with its employees. In an email meant for staff and seen by WSJ, Playables should be, well, playable on the YouTube website accessed through a browser, and through the YouTube app for iOS and Android. Games include Stack Bounce - a simple arcade-style title where you break up layers of a brick wall using a bouncing ball.

The games can be played on YouTube's site on web browsers or via devices running Google's Android and Apple's iOS mobile systems, the report added.

In a statement provided to TechCrunch, a company spokesman declined to confirm the experiment but said, "Gaming has long been a focus at YouTube. We're always experimenting with new features but have nothing to announce right now."

However, the email doesn't say how YouTube plans to monetize Playables, if they make a public debut. If the service is coming in to supplement for lost advertising revenue, maybe the games will be free to play, with unskippable ads thrown in for monetization. There could be other strategies involved here, but some form of monetization effort should be expected.

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