YouTube
“A new player has entered the game.” – the very first tweet at 12:30pm CDST on June 12 from a new [verified] Twitter account, @YouTubeGaming. Slowly but surely, more tweets are being dropped by the minute hinting at, what aims to be, the biggest development from YouTube in years. After being rumored to purchase Twitch prior to Amazon’s acquisition, Google is finally launching a version of YouTube specifically for gamers, and they are hoping to take down the streaming giant with YouTube Gaming.
“Our brand-new user experience puts games front and center, including live gaming.” This means one central hub for Let’s Plays and Live Streams, something that will put YouTube one step ahead of its competitor, seeing as Twitch primarily focuses on the latter. While Twitch has the option to cut highlights and have archives, all of this is done around the live stream content. YouTube specializes in the opposite, uploading pre-crafted content, and while it only recently got into the streaming business, it certainly has the infrastructure to support it without much cause for concern.
Content will be broken into three separate categories: Games, Feed, and Channels. Reportedly, more than 25,000 games will have their own landing pages for related videos, alongside the familiar Channels from gaming companies and YouTube creators. For content creators, the organization system will be relatively similar to the YouTube channels. Don’t let that confuse you, though. YouTube Gaming will be a separate experience from YouTube. “You can search with confidence, knowing that ‘call’ will show you ‘Call of Duty’ and not ‘Call Me Maybe.’”
From the user-end, this difference comes in the way you receive content. While you obviously can follow channels just like on YouTube, you can also tell the system what your favorite games are under “My Games.” This will bring in a stream of content all related to that specific title, alongside all of your favorite content creators. It will also be an easy way to find those currently live streaming the game.
The live streaming is getting a nice upgrade too, which will be familiar to Twitch users. YouTube promises and upgraded Live system, including the recently released 60fps HD video streaming, which will feature improved chat latency and moderation. Now you can interact with your favorite YouTube Creators unlike ever before. It really turns the whole YouTube experience on its heading, switching from a passive viewing experience to a two-way street. This experience will extend from the web to mobile and tablet devices on iOS and Android, allowing you to interact with your favorites virtually at all times.
While it hasn’t launched yet, you can currently signup for more information on the site’s landing page:http://gaming.youtube.com
To stay up-to-date, you can also follow @YouTubeGaming on Twitter.
