YouTube rolls out its new Playables games to all users

Everybody’s getting into gaming these days. YouTube joins the slowly growing list of companies with gaming initiatives, rolling out its Playables program across mobile and desktop. To play, simply visit YouTube’s website or Android / iOS app and look for Playables in the sidebar. YouTube will let players save their progress and keep track of high scores. There are over 75 games to choose from, including chess and crossword games to more popular casual mobile titles like Angry Birds Showdown!, Trivia Crack, and Cut the Rope.

YouTube began its foray into gaming last year, offering Playables to YouTube Premium subscribers. That initial phase had far fewer games and was only around for a relatively limited amount of time, with the phase wrapping up in March of this year.

Offering a slate of casual games has become one of the more popular ways that tech companies are using to lure in or keep subscribers. LinkedIn recently rolled out its game offerings that are apparently pretty entertaining. The New York Times, Hearst, and even Netflix have all added games as a part of their regular services. Even YouTube’s parent company, Google, tried its hand at gaming in 2019 with the Google Stadia cloud gaming subscription service. After a little more than three years, Google shut Stadia down in 2023.