Getty Images
- YouTube launched a free gaming platform, called Playables, with over 75 games.
- Playables includes popular mobile titles like "Angry Birds" and "Cut the Rope."
- Netflix also launched a gaming platform in 2021 focused on mobile games.
YouTube has come a long way since the days when secret commands allowed you to play a brief game of Snake using its buffering animation.
It's now an actual gaming platform that lets you play dozens of popular games — for free.
YouTube launched its new gaming platform, called "Playables," earlier this week, making over 75 games free to play. Some users in select markets could access Playables — which offers games on YouTube's mobile app and desktop site — for the past few months, the company said in a press release.
Most of the games on Playables are popular "lightweight mobile" titles like "Angry Birds," "Cut the Rope," and "Trivia Crack," YouTube said. Playables allows gamers to save their game progress and track high scores.
YouTube isn't the first digital media company to plug into the gaming space.
Netflix also launched a gaming platform in 2021. It was designed for mobile games to keep users engaged for longer periods on different platforms. Old "Grand Theft Auto" games dominated the Netflix platform last year after hype around "Grand Theft Auto VI" caused a surge in downloads.