For YouTube has been teasing about the new platform dedicated to gamers since E3 this year and now, it is ready to launch it globally. The spin-off platform, YouTube Gaming is available from 18:00 GMT (23:30 IST) on Wednesday and also app for the same will available for Android and iOS.
YouTube Gaming is a dedicated app and website focusing exclusively on gaming content, with a greater emphasis on live steams.
“As promised, and after some excellent road-testing by thousands of dedicated gaming fans, YouTube Gaming is now available,” YouTube engineering manager Frank Petterson said in a blog post.
Google has wanted to be in the video game live streaming business when it first bid on Twitch but lost to Amazon, which has become the go-to platform for gamers who want to broadcast live. Since then Google has been one of the big promoters for gaming videos and has created YouTube superstars like Felix Kjellberg aka PewDiePie who creates viral gameplay videos and made $7.3 million from letting people watching him play video games.
The website has visitors spending billions of hours watching them every month and it was in the best interest to make it a separate website app which is dedicated to gaming. Users can follow games, getting updates when popular videos are posted and can receive notifications when channels go live.
The focus now is more on the live streaming content and the website has already collected videos of games, over 25,000 of which have their own profiles, allowing people to set up livestreams while they play. YouTube Gaming is also integrated into YouTube, letting people convert their stream into a video on the site when it is finished, for instance.
Live streaming function for its gaming app has been redeveloped, but confirmed that live broadcasts would be subject to its standard copyright checks. The company’s Content ID system will terminate broadcasts if “third-party content” such as music is detected, a feature absent on Twitch.
Twitch should be worried, since YouTube has a very big community and Google trying to steal users from under its nose will have a major impact on Amazon led company. New features present on the new website include a popular games section on the left and channels section on the right allowing users to scan them with ease.
Twitch already has in-roads with hardware partnerships having already integrated app in both PS4 and Xbox One making a lot easier for gamers to put content online. This is something YouTube will have to work around to break that monopoly and become the heavyweight itself with resources available to it.