Here's an in-depth look at YouTube Playables, allowing you to game right in YouTube

In September, Google announced a new YouTube feature called Playables. This new perk will allow people to instantly fire up certain games right in the YouTube app without needing to download anything. In its announcement of this feature, Google said it would be rolling out early access to a limited number of users, but we haven’t heard much since then.

Thanks to a tipster, though, we now have our first in-depth look at YouTube Playables. You can check the screenshots below for a good idea of what to expect.

YouTube Playables: Screenshots

As expected, the games on offer here are mobile-first titles. This is interesting, considering Google says this feature will work on both mobile and desktop. Regardless, you shouldn’t expect Playables to be a Stadia resurrection, as these selections don’t indicate that AAA console titles are on the way.

From the screenshots we have, here are the games we can expect:

From the screenshots, we see that this demo of Playables is open until March 28. Theoretically, that means we shouldn’t expect a full rollout of the service until after that date. Google gave no information on when to expect Playables to actually launch, so it’s likely we won’t see it in a stable form until the first half of 2024. Until then, you’ll need to be a YouTube Premium subscriber and be lucky enough to be invited into the testing phase.

If you are a Premium subscriber and want to see if you’re eligible, go to youtube.com/new and check if you have the option to opt-in.

Notably, Netflix offers mobile games as part of its Netflix Games series. From what we’ve seen so far, Playables looks like a direct competitor to that. Time will tell which platform becomes the winner.

Thank you to Alex V. for the tip!