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Google now testing Playables gaming feature on YouTube

New tech will enable users to play games via video platform through browsers or mobile app

Google has begun public testing for its new Playables feature on YouTube, which brings games to the video platform.

An update about various tests and experiments the company is running, spotted by 9to5Google, says the test began earlier this week on September 5 starting with a "limited number of users."

Those users will be able to access games that can be "played directly on YouTube on both desktop and mobile devices."

There are no further details on how this works, or which titles are featured, but a Wall Street Journal report earlier this year suggested a demo has already been tested with brick-breaking arcade game Stack Bounce.

At the time of the original report, a Google spokesperson said that gaming "has long been a focus at YouTube" but the company has "nothing to announce right now" regarding its plans for Playables.

The new feature is Google's latest experiment in the games space, following less than a year after the closure of cloud gaming service Stadia.

At last week's GamesIndustry.biz Investment Summit in Seattle, former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden listed Google as one of four non-endemics likely to try disrupting the games industry.

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James Batchelor avatar
James Batchelor: James is Editor-in-Chief at GamesIndustry.biz, and has been a B2B journalist since 2006. He is author of The Best Non-Violent Video Games