The new platform was unveiled back in June. Today, the website (gaming.youtube.com) will launch in every country where YouTube is available. Android and iOS apps will also debut but are currently available in the U.S. and U.K. only.
After losing the purchase of Twitch to Amazon almost exactly a year ago, Google set out to create its own rival service instead. The company describes YouTube Gaming as the “go-to destination for anything and everything gaming”.
All the gaming videos on YouTube can be enjoyed from one dedicated portal. Users can track and follow content from their favourite games and easily see when a channel uploads new footage. Content is searchable and sorted by game.
The site will launch with over 25,000 indexed games. Each game has its own hub page showcasing the latest videos it features in. Gamers can easily livestream and record themselves playing, a key component of Twitch.
YouTube Gaming represents the third dedicated portal to specific content on YouTube, following YouTube Kids to make it easier to find videos appropriate for children and YouTube Music Key. The latter remains in internal testing but will be a way to access music with a subscription service.
Ryan Wyatt, YouTube’s head of gaming, explained the reason to create a customised experience for gamers to The Guardian. He said: “Gaming is so big now. We’re doing billions of hours of watch-time a month, with hundreds of millions of users. It’s astonishing.”
YouTube Gaming will have one key advantage over Twitch. Users will be able to instantly upload footage of live, 60 frames-per-second broadcasts when they finish the stream, avoiding the extra step of moving content between Twitch and YouTube.
The launch of YouTube Gaming also represents the introduction of the first true competitor to Twitch.tv since its launch in 2011. The company was bought by Amazon last year for around $1 billion.
