Today, Google finally put an end to all of the rumors that YouTube was looking to take on Twitch, the company focused on bringing gaming to as many screens as possible.
And sure enough, Google is indeed setting Twitch very firmly within its crosshairs. With YouTube Gaming, which the company just announced, YouTube will now put a heavy focus on gaming, livestreams, DVR content and more. With this new section of YouTube, users will be able to subscribe to individual channels that catch their attention, as well as follow games directly. When a game or channel begins its livestreaming endeavors, the user will get a push notification letting them know they can start watching.
As far as features go, YouTube Gaming will feature 60fps livestreams, as well as DVR capabilities so that offline videos can be loaded to a channel as well. YouTube Gaming will also recommend channels and games based on what the user has watched or subscribed to previously. The new section will have more than 25,000 dedicated pages for games, so finding what someone is looking for, as rare as the title might be, seems like it might be possible.
Those that livestream to the service will be able to share their links to the stream, and Google is changing the way that livestreams are handled so that it doesn’t have to be scheduled ahead of time before going live. When the livestream has concluded, YouTube Gaming will automatically convert the content to a YouTube video for easy publishing.
YouTube Gaming goes live in the United States and the United Kingdom this summer, but no specific launch date was provided. It will be launched with a corresponding Android app as well. It’ll be available on the web, too.
[via iPhoneHacks; @YouTubeGaming; YouTube Gaming]