Google might be reviving its Stadia game-streaming service through an experimental YouTube feature. The video platform is testing a so-called “Playables” feature for a select group of users, according to a YouTube support document, which was spotted by 9to5Google.
"Playables are games that can be played directly on YouTube on both desktop and mobile devices,” the support document says. “If you’re part of this experiment, you’ll see a section on YouTube called ‘Playables’ that will appear alongside other content on the home feed.”
The support document doesn’t reveal much else, including what games will be available, or the technology behind Playables. But it sounds like the system could stream games on the internet in the same way Stadia did.
(Photo by Olly Curtis/Future Publishing via Getty Images)Google, which owns YouTube, certainly has the technology to pull it off. In 2019, the company launched Stadia, a service that sought to compete with traditional video game consoles. Instead of needing to buy pricey hardware, Stadia streamed games on a laptop, TV, or smartphone, as long as you had a fast enough internet connection.
Though it was marketed as a type of Netflix for games, it didn't really work out that way. In addition to paying a monthly subscription fee, you had to pay to own the individual games on the service. A year ago, Google decided to shut down Stadia, citing poor traction among consumers. Nevertheless, the company mentioned that it saw “clear opportunities” to apply Stadia’s technology to other parts of Google, including YouTube. So Playables could be it.
We reached out to Google for comment, and will update the story if we hear back. In the meantime, the support document adds users will be able to “view and control” their Playables history and saved game progress in the YouTube History function.
