Google Announces YouTube Gaming

Something big happened while I was traveling the last few days.  Google is now in direct competition with Amazon’s Twitch having now announced YouTube Gaming.  Let’s take a look.

I will admit it, even as a former hardcore gamer, I don’t get watching other people game.  It could be a generational thing, because a lot of people do.  A well known Twitch stream has the following of a Yankees vs Red Sox Game.  Game streaming is huge.  It huge that not only did Twitch’s former owners shutdown the Justin.TV streaming service to devote time to it, Apple announced a system level iOS API just for game replays at the recent WWDC 2015.  For the hardcore geek community, professional gamers have become the athletes.

There is quite a bit of gaming content already on YouTube, but Google wants a more formal piece of the pie.  Their YouTube division was heavily rumored to be in on Twitch before eventually losing to Amazon.  It will have a dedicated app and a special website distinct from the rest of YouTube.  You’ll be able to subscribe to specific publishers and games and receive stream notifications.  For gamers, Google will offer an easy solution to stream your gameplay without going through the entire live stream process.  They’re also offering all of YouTube’s technology including 60fps streaming.

According to the website, YouTube gaming will launch later on during the summer.  They’ll have a booth at the E3 gaming convention to show off their new product.  This could be very big for Google and very big for online gaming.

Source:  Google