Newly launched YouTube Gaming aims to give another level of fun for gamers
A dedicated site that directly competes with Twitch
Google and YouTube recently launched a dedicated site for live-stream gaming. Aptly called YouTube Gaming, it is seen as a major competitor of popular live-streaming platform Twitch. Google had tried to buy Twitch for $1 billion, but the site was eventually bought by Amazon.
Twitch boasts of a community of gamers that uses the site to upload gameplay, broadcast live events, and other interactive activities among users. It currently has over 100 million users all over the world, not counting its 1.5 million broadcasters. With the launch of YouTube Gaming, observers say that this is an effort to lure avid Twitch users to switch to YouTube.
According to The Verge, YouTube Gaming promises that it is exclusive only to videos that gamers are looking for. In fact, it claims that when a user types "call," Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" won't appear, but "Call of Duty." Although its interface needs some work, The Verge speculates that its video reliability and convenient rewind function may be some of the factors that will convince gamers to use the site.
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Other features of YouTube Gaming include streaming of up to 60 fps and allowing a user to save the streamed video and archive it on YouTube. The site includes 25,000 games, all with its own pages. Aside from the site itself, YouTube Gaming can also be downloaded as an app, available in both Apple iOS and Android.
However, it seems Twitch is not giving up without a fight. PC Gamer quotes a statement from the company, saying that they have laid several major projects that will soon be announced in their event, Twitchcon. It can also be remembered that shortly after the announcement of YouTube Gaming, Twitch's Twitter account had replied "Welcome Player 2. Add me on Google+. #kappa." With these turn of events, it looks like the games are just about to begin.
YouTube Gaming officially launched on Aug. 26 in the United States and in Europe, and will be available in Australia on Aug. 27.
