This article was published on June 12, 2015

Google takes on Twitch with YouTube Gaming, its newest standalone app and website


Google takes on Twitch with YouTube Gaming, its newest standalone app and website

Ahead of E3 2015, Google has announced that it will launch a new YouTube app and website dedicated to all things gaming. YouTube Gaming will feature more than 25,000 pages for specific game titles so you can follow livestreams and related content to your favorite games.

For example, if you choose to follow ‘EVE Online,’ you’ll be subscribed to news about upcoming releases, updates on its content for the Oculus Rift, tournaments livestreams and more. Users can browse through official content from the game studio, or reviews from popular YouTube creators.

Sounds familiar to another website we know, right?

Game Page_Desktop

You can also search and follow YouTube creators who blog specifically about games to find review, walkthrough, commentary and unboxing videos. The profile pages feature a slightly refreshed UI that matches the color scheme to the video game art.

On the creators’ end, YouTube says livestreamers can now use a single link to share their feed instead of creating a new link every time they go live. They can change the basic info of the video before they go live by editing the title, description and tagging the appropriate game title to increase search visibility.

The feed will stream at 60 fps in HTML5, a playback update YouTube added just a few weeks ago in early preview. Creators can also check live analytic data of their stream straight from the dashboard.

With YouTube Gaming, Google is hoping to let gamers have their own dedicated space in its ecosystem for gamers to find content specifically related to their interest. “Typing ‘call’ will show you ‘Call of Duty’ and not ‘Call Me Maybe,'” Google wrote in a blog post.

Family

YouTube Gaming will launch this summer in the United States and United Kingdom. For more details on exact launch date, follow its dedicated Twitter account, @YouTubeGaming.

First YouTube Kids and now YouTube Gaming… what spinoff do you think Google should consider next? I’m putting a vote in for YouTube DIY.

➤ YouTube Gaming

Get the TNW newsletter

Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.

Also tagged with