Google Stadia is dead, but Google’s ambitions in the gaming realm certainly are not. Now the company is apparently testing games within the YouTube website.
According a Wall Street Journal report, the company is working on a “playables” feature for the video sharing portal on iOS and Android devices.
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The report says they’ll be arcade-style games rather than pushing back into providing AAA titles over the cloud. The Journal says the focus will be on games “that can be easily played and shared between users”
One of the games will reportedly be “Stack Bounce” which requires games to smash bricks by bouncing a ball. So yeah, pretty basic, and apparently built in HTML5. A Google spokesperson said the company often experiments, but did not confirm the feature is launching any time soon.
“Gaming has long been a focus at YouTube,” the statement said (via TechCrunch). “We’re always experimenting with new features, but have nothing to announce right now.”
Google is looking for ways to broaden the YouTube proposition as the company deals with falling advertising revenues. YouTube also added podcasts recently.
Whether Google will have success with adding games to YouTube remains to be seen. The Play Store is still the go-to for the vast majority of casual gaming experiences on Android, while Stadia was a massive flop when Google began thinking outside that box.
It shut down in December last year with Google refunding users for all hardware and software purchases and unlocking Bluetooth connectivity within the controllers so they could avoid being landfill fodder.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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