YouTube Launches Games

EVERYTHING IS A GAMING COMPANY
YOUTUBE ROLLS OUT IN-APP GAMES

Netflix, New York Times, Shopee, Spotify, Instagram, LinkedIn.

What do all these companies have in common?

Maybe your answer wasn’t that, but these companies have the development of games as a business expansion strategy in common.

And recently we had a new player.

After an eight-month trial with selected users, YouTube has expanded its new “Playables” in-app games feature to more US, UK, Canadian, and Australian users.

The platform now offers over 75 games.

In my opinion, the streaming giant’s initiative may be more assertive than other companies’ attempts.

Firstly, the titles available are very popular IPs.

Check it out (AppMagic figures since 2015).

Angry Birds by Rovio Entertainment Corporation (1.5bi downloads and US$1.27bi IAP revenue).
Tomb of the Mask by Playgendary (507MM downloads and US$21MM IAP revenue).
Trivia Crack by etermax (430MM downloads and US$113MM IAP revenue).
Words of Wonders by Fugo Games (380MM downloads and US$28MM IAP revenue).
Cut the Rope by ZeptoLab (377MM downloads and US$17MM IAP revenue).

And other games with very familiar mechanics.

Secondly, these “playables” are not short (like playable ads), but lengthy.

For example, Tomb of the Mask has over 540 levels available.

They are multiplatform games and can be played on mobile and PC .

And perhaps the most important aspect and the main difference compared to GameSnack (Google‘s other gaming initiative):

According to Big Games Machine, YouTube is the most used platform for discovering new games.

YouTube’s challenge is that most users visit the app to watch video content, so changing their habits will be difficult.

But I believe that this is one of the most promising game initiatives by non-gaming companies.

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Cost Center GamesCom Asiais a tech company that offers a powerful suite of tools for Mobile Publishers to optimize UA campaigns.

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