YouTube is internally testing a product for playing online games, according to an email sent to employees at parent company Google.
Google-owned YouTube is reportedly working on bringing online gaming on its platform that is likely to be called ‘Playables’, at a time when streaming giant Netflix also enters the world of gaming.
The video-sharing platform is testing an online game offering that could give users the ability to play games via the YouTube website on desktop or the YouTube app via iOS and Android devices, reports The Wall Street Journal.
“YouTube is internally testing a product for playing online games, according to an email sent to employees at parent company Google,” the report said. It signals Google’s ambitions to move beyond video hosting into games that can easily be played and shared between users, it added.
YouTube, which has billions of monthly users, is already a popular destination for gamers. The new gaming offering would feature arcade-style games like Stack Bounce, where players use a bouncing ball to smash through layers of bricks.
A company spokesperson said that gaming has long been a focus at YouTube. We’re always experimenting with new features but have nothing to announce right now, the spokesperson added.
The gaming experiment on YouTube comes as Google shut down its Cloud gaming service called Stadia early this year, after it failed to gain traction with users.