A new report revealed that YouTube is looking to relaunch its livestream platform with a new focus on esports and live gaming, according to sources from the streaming industry.
Google-owned video-sharing portal YouTube, which attempted but did not succeed to acquire streaming website Twitch last year, has maintained interest in the growing esports industry and is looking to jump in by acquiring talent and broadcast content.
"Gaming and esports in particular are going to be a big driving force for the new-look YouTube Live," said one of the sources of he Daily Dot, adding that there will be big opportunities that will be opening up soon for popular streamers and organizations in the industry.
The source also said that the viewer base for esports will only continue to grow once Google begins to promote and create partnerships for live gaming events.
YouTube's first experiments with livestreaming started in 2010 when it broadcasted cricket games of the Indian Premier League, claiming that the livestreams were the first online broadcast of a major sports event released for free. YouTube Live has not entirely lived up to expectations though, with YouTube pulling out all mentions of live events from its homepage early last year.
The announcement released last year that Google will be acquiring Twitch led to assumptions that the next step in the company's livestreaming business will focus on gaming. However, the deal fell through due to antitrust concerns, with Amazon beating out Google to acquire Twitch for a massive price of $1.1 billion.
YouTube is reportedly now looking to challenge the website that it formerly looked to acquire, though it will be hard because of Twitch's apparent monopoly on esports and video game livestreaming.
In any case, YouTube has started its ascent to relevance in the esports livestreaming industry with the recruitment of a team composed of 50 engineers that have expertise in the streaming industry.
YouTube has already been involved in esports with its broadcasting of the League of Legends Championship Series, the biggest professional gaming league in the United States and Europe, since 2013. However, the deal is not exclusive, with most viewers opting to watch the event through Twitch and other competing companies.
YouTube is expected to make an announcement regarding its revamped livestreaming service, with the focus on esports and live gaming, at the upcoming E3 gaming expo, which will run from June 16 to June 18.
The Daily Dot said that YouTube refused to provide a statement for the report.
