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On Sunday, word leaked that YouTube might buy gaming video site Twitch, which makes a certain amount of sense. Here’s another YouTube-related gaming story that’s a bit more out of left field.
The free-to-play games studio Kabam has released games for Facebook, iOS and Android, but decided to embed a playable demo of its newest game, Blades of Excalibur, on YouTube. The demo, accessible through the game’s YouTube channel, is the result of a special partnership between Kabam and the video site.
“Gamers are increasingly turning to YouTube to showcase and discuss gameplay, and being on this platform is another way for us to reach this audience,” Kabam senior marketing manager Kimberly Pointer said via email. “Kabam worked with our partners at Google from concept to launch.”
Pointer declined to say if any money changed hands to get the game in place. But having a flash game within a channel’s tabs appears to be a first.
Kabam says Blades of Excalibur, a side-scrolling beat-em-up game in the vein of Golden Axe except free with in-game purchases, was originally called Three Kingdoms Action when it was released in China last year. It generated more than $100 million in revenue there, nearly a third of the company’s total gross in 2013. The U.S. launch under a new name is one of 30 games being published in a new $50 million development program.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
