Google made a big deal when they launched Stadia, their cloud gaming service. On paper it was a fantastic idea, being able to play triple A titles from Chrome was pretty cool, but unfortunately the company decided to shut it down.
It seemed like Google’s gaming ambitions had come to an abrupt end, but that might not be the case. In a report from The Wall Street Journal, it claims that YouTube’s CEO Neal Mohan could be looking to launch a gaming service of their own. Apparently it is to help offset the slowdown in advertising revenue.
This new service is called Playables, at least that’s what it’s being referred to internally. It will feature games that can be played either through the YouTube website or its iOS or Android app, and one of the games seen in an email is called “Stack Bounce”, an arcade styled game where gamers try to break off bricks using a bouncing ball.
It sounds like a very simple game and isn’t quite on the same level that Google Stadia was aiming for. If anything, it sounds like YouTube could be trying to follow in the footsteps of Netflix who have launched mobile titles of their own. It is unclear how YouTube will monetize these games. Maybe it will only be available to YouTube Premium subscribers, or maybe there will be in-game purchases.
Either way, nothing has been officially announced yet which is pretty much what a YouTube spokesperson said when the publication reached out to them for a comment.
Source: Android Police
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