Month: June 2015

After providing a preview of their 60fps streaming service just last month, YouTube has officially announced the next step in their broadcasting expansion. YouTube Gaming, made up of both a brand new website and mobile app, will focus (naturally) on video games, only with an added emphasis on livestreaming.

According to Polygon, YouTube Gaming product manager Alan Joyce made sure to point out that, while normal video content is a major part of the product, streams will be “front and center.”

Much like the original service, YouTube Gaming will give users the opportunity to subscribe to streamers and be notified when they go live, though no word has been provided whether or not similar monetization methods will apply.

Basic streaming functionality has existed on YouTube in some form since late 2013, but this rather sudden push is a testament to the market’s explosion. Twitch, which was acquired by Amazon last August, has for some time been the frontrunner in the incredibly limited field, and is arguably the only real choice when it comes to third-party streaming platforms despite often glaring flaws.

Could YouTube Gaming finally provide Twitch with a worthy challenge? As of now, that’s hard to say, but the strides YouTube is making certainly inspire hope. Let’s cross our fingers some of the less savory aspects of their main service (e.g. faulty DMCA notices) don’t make the transition as well.

YouTube Gaming is scheduled to launch in the United States and the United Kingdom this summer.

Sources: YouTube Gaming, Polygon