When we talk about playing games, your smartphones, gaming PCs, and consoles come to mind. But, did you know that you can now play games on YouTube? Yes, YouTube has been testing out experiments for a while and recently has given out a select number of YouTube Premium subscribers the option to play games.
If the new games section on YouTube seems to have sparked an interest in you, you can read on to know how you can play these fun little games on YouTube. Let’s get started.
How to Play Games on YouTube
For the time being, these games are being tested out as an experiment only for those who are subscribed to YouTube Premium. You need to have an active subscription to take advantage of such experiments. But before we talk about how you can get access to the games on YouTube, you need to first enable the Experimental features on YouTube.
To get the Playables shelf in the YouTube app on Android or iOS and the web version in your web browser you need to first enable the experimental features.
Follow the steps mentioned below depending on the platform you use to watch YouTube content.
Enable YouTube Experimental Features via Web Browser
To take advantage of the experimental Playables feature on YouTube, you can make use of any web browser. You can use Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or any other web browser. Make sure that the YouTube account you will be using has an active YouTube Premium subscription. Now, follow these steps.
- Once you have launched YouTube, click on the profile picture in the top right corner.
- From the menu that shows up, click on Your Premium benefits
- The benefits page will now open on the screen.
- Click on where it says Try Experimental Features.
- You will see the Play games on the YouTube section.
- Click on the button that says Turn On.
- Now, reload the YouTube tab in your browser and scroll down a bit.
- You will see a new shelf on the homepage of YouTube called Playables.
- Click on the game that you like and play right away.
Enable YouTube Experimental Features via the YouTube App
Apart from just being able to access and play games on the web version of YouTube, you can now also play their games on the YouTube app for Android and iOS devices. For that to work your premium subscription to YouTube is needed as well as the latest update for the YouTube app.
- Open the YouTube app on your desired smartphone.
- Now, tap on the profile picture at the bottom right corner.
- Tap on Your Premium benefits section.
- Here you will see the Try Experimental Features section. Tap on it.
- When you see the Play Games on YouTube section, tap on the Turn On button.
- Go back to the main homepage of the YouTube app and scroll down a bit.
- You will see the Playables in the YouTube section.
- Browse through the games and play the pens that you like.
Closing Thoughts
When you have the feature annealed, you can simply choose from a handful of available games. Do note that this experimental feature is only for YouTube Premium members and will be running till the 28th of March, 2024. And yes, you can play these games through the YouTube app. You will not need to download any other app to your device. You can think of it as the Instant Games feature that is available on the Google Play Games app for Android.
So, what do you think about playable games being added to the YouTube platform? Is this something that YouTube is trying to take a step ahead with how Netflix has its library of games that you can play provided you have an active Netflix subscription? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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