YouTube Internally Testing Product for Playing Online Games: Report

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 company invited its employees to begin testing the new YouTube product called 'Playables', the report said, adding that games available for testing included titles such as arcade game 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 spokeperson 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."

Hosting online games on YouTube, which is a popular place for users to stream games and watch livestreamed game footage is part of CEO Neal Mohan's push into new areas of growth amid a slowdown in advertising spending, the WSJ report said.

According to the report, there are several games available for employees to test. However, Stack Bounce has been specifically mentioned as an ad-supported arcade game that is one among those being offered. The players need to smash layers of bricks with a bouncing ball in this game. 

The online gaming will provide another avenue for YouTube to generate money from the gaming industry. 

The company has also introduced a host of new features, one of which includes the upcoming launch of YouTube's first official shopping channel for live commerce in South Korea on June 30, as reported by Yonhap news agency.