Jun 12, 2015

Google is launching a standalone YouTube Gaming service to take on Twitch

As rumoured, Google is making a move on Twitch's territory with the launch of a YouTube Gaming platform.
An app and website for the service are coming to the US and UK this summer, offering live-streamed and on-demand content.

More than 25,000 games will each have their own page, which will be the place to find all videos and live streams about that title.

Google is creating YouTube Gaming as a standalone experience separate from the main YouTube platform, not only comprising pages for each game title but also channels from game companies and YouTube content creators.

"Uncover new favourites with recommendations based on the games and channels you love," YouTube said in a blog post announcement. "And when you want something specific, you can search with confidence, knowing that typing 'call' will show you Call of Duty and not 'Call Me Maybe'."

YouTube introduced support for 60 frames per second video earlier this year - needed for recording and watching modern games - and already converts live streams into on-demand video.