Google is now officially taking on Twitch. As rumored,
the company today announced YouTube Gaming, an app and dedicated
website designed to be a home for all its gaming video both
live-streamed and on demand. YouTube Gaming will launch this summer
starting in the US and UK.
A separate experience from the rest of YouTube
Google is positioning YouTube Gaming as a separate experience from
the rest of YouTube; according to the announcement post, "you can search
with confidence, knowing that typing 'call' will show you 'Call of
Duty' and not 'Call Me Maybe'" (for the record, I'm seeing three Call of Duty suggestions
ahead of "Call Me Maybe"). More than 25,000 games will reportedly have
their own landing pages for related videos in addition to channels from
game companies and YouTube content creators. It doesn't seem to be,
however, an altogether separate platform — all the videos we're seeing
today exist on YouTube proper as well.
While YouTube is a behemoth when it comes to online video, livestream
and broadcast gameplay has been dominated by Twitch, which as of last
year boasted 100 million viewers each month. (Related: Google was rumored last year to be acquiring Twitch before Amazon picked it up for $970 million.)
Some of it has to do with technology; Google launched 60 frames per
second video playback earlier this year — especially important for
recording and watching modern games online — and its 60fps live streaming
debuted just a few weeks ago in early preview. Google today is
promising "an improved live experience that makes it simpler to
broadcast your gameplay to YouTube." That includes, according to product
manager Barbara Macdonald, improved latency, highlight clipping, and
more. And yes, you can monetize the streams through ads (including
midroll ads) and fan funding — no premium subscription options at this
point.
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