YouTube is internally testing a product for playing online games, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday citing an email sent to employees at parent company Google.
The report said the company invited its employees to begin testing the new YouTube product, ‘Playables’, adding that games available for testing included games such as Stack Bounce.
The games can be played on YouTube’s site on web browsers or via devices running Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS mobile systems, the report added.
A spokesperson for YouTube said that gaming has long been a focus, adding that the company was experimenting with new features and had ‘nothing to announce right now.’
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Neal Mohan, CEO, YouTube, is exploring new avenues for growth due to a decline in advertising spending. As part of this effort, YouTube is testing the hosting of online games, leveraging its popularity as a platform for game streaming and live-streamed gameplay.