YouTube Premium introduced Playables last year as a way to enjoy arcade games on the platform without having to download a separate app or program. The feature is now available to all YouTube users, putting Google on the growing list of companies with gaming initiatives.
YouTube Playables is available on both mobile (iOS/Android) and desktop and can be found in the sidebar accessible through the hamburger menu on the top left. However, some users may have to wait a bit longer as the update is not available everywhere just yet.
Playables currently has 75 titles on its platform and YouTube will save your progress and keep track of your high scores in each one. Some of the popular titles include notable mobile games such as Angry Birds Showdown!, Cut the Rope and Trivia Crack. There are puzzle games and different versions of chess as well.
YouTube Playables only had a limited amount of games when it launched in late 2023 and was only available for a short time before the phase wrapped in March this year.
The trend of introducing games on different platforms has been catching on among many tech companies. LinkedIn has recently introduced gaming on its website and other names such as Netflix have had it for a while already. Rumor has it that Netflix is even planning to make AAA games sometime in the future.
Some unexpected companies including The New York Times and Hearst Publications have added games as part of their regular services too. The company behind YouTube, Google, also introduced Google Stadia, but that project was scrapped like dozens of others under Google.