YouTube is now getting into games

misk@sopuli.xyz to Technology@lemmy.world – 57 points –
YouTube is now getting into games
theverge.com
31

Aaaaand it's gone.

Wouldn't trust Google to keep anything long term at this stage.

Google can't even stick to a fucking chat client. I absolutely do not trust them to support a game.

They should recognize that some products are just utilities that need to be there for their ecosystem, even if they aren’t first class contenders or leaders in the space. How brave do you have to be to believe that having a chat client is better, in the end, than having no chat client?

Google can't even stick to a fucking chat client.

Remember when YouTube briefly included a chat client so you could send videos to friends and talk about them without leaving the app?

I swear that must have been live for all of a month…

I found it very nice to share with a close friend that way.

This is what I really hate about Google's strategy. Every one of these dozens of chat apps Google has come up with has been loved by somebody. Even if it's not many people.

Finding something you love and having it taken away from you because the developers couldn't be bothered supporting it feels so much worse than if that something never existed at all. If Google isn't willing to support things, they shouldn't be releasing it to the market. They've now gotten themselves in a position where people don't trust them to support things long term, and that is in turn making it harder for them to release new products and services because usage numbers are too low with everyone waiting to see if it lasts.

It's self-fulfilling at this point. People don't buy into Google's new stuff because they know it won't be around for long. Then it does poorly and gets the axe, proving everyone right.

Been using NewPipe lately and went back to YouTube for the first time in a while.

I can't believe how crowded and awful the video lists have gotten. It's filled with YouTube tips, ads within lists, shorts, suggestions for games, and absolutely garbage video suggestions.

De-Google your life, it's so much better

What is NewPipe?

NewPipe is an open source YouTube client for Android. I personally prefer LibreTube but either one is a lot better than using the official YouTube app.

I'm using Newpipe but haven't tried LibreTube. Interested to try it out. How come you prefer it?

It routes your traffic through Piped instances rather than YouTube's servers. The main reason is probably just that I prefer LibreTube's UI.

I use NewPipe, it's a nice alternative but then I'm not a heavy YouTube user. How are they able to make it? I'm surprised YouTube would allow an app like this to exist.

Ah yes, multiple unskippable ads before playing a game. Can't wait for it.

You mean like Ubisoft just did?

As far as I understood this was a dismissable static ad so youtube's ads will be 10x worse

Of course. And you know where is the end of this line? When we are allowed to rent (DRM) the games for absurd amount of money or for a sane one but with ads every 5 minutes. Add a microtransaction that blocks ads for 15 minutes in MMOs to the mix and maybe have less ads shown on big streamers' accounts so it doesn't look that bad on let's plays

Stupid if you ask me. Youtube is not, should not be the platform for games.

Can’t do much worse than it already is at this point.

I'm never buying another game from Google again. They dropped the ball on Stadia so hard.

Ah yes, Google and games. Why does this feels so familiar?

It seems like this would be an excellent use of all that Stadia tech they built up. I'm pretty sure full YouTube integration was part of the bigger picture for Stadia. Such a shame to see the whole project just seemingly scrapped.

But with the selection of what are effectively just mobile games, I have to ask: why? Why not just... play the actual mobile game?

This is the best summary I could come up with:


As noted by Droid-Life, YouTube sent a notification last week to Premium subscribers informing them of Playables and allowing them to try it out.

YouTube joins a long list of non-gaming tech companies that are trying to expand into games — often with mixed results.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Amazon cut over 130 jobs in its free games division and announced it would “refocus” its efforts.

YouTube’s experiments are nothing new; the platform often tests features on its paid subscribers before deciding whether to add them permanently.

In addition to Playables, Premium members can also sign up to try out YouTube’s conversational AI feature that lets users ask questions about videos they’re viewing.

While it’s hard to imagine someone explicitly signing up for YouTube Premium solely for the Playables games, they may convince some on-the-fence users to stay for longer.


The original article contains 486 words, the summary contains 142 words. Saved 71%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

Is this just diversifying for the sake of diversifying – to convince people to maintain their subscriptions, or is there something larger at play?

Like the article said, Netflix has been investing in gaming as well. They have a small but decent lineup.

What's in it for Netflix and YouTube? Can't imagine there's much info to collect for ad purposes.

Can't wait for the most censored videreo game experience of all tiem