YouTube isn't just for videos of corgis and kittens or Game of Thrones mashups anymore: gaming is coming to the video-sharing website this Wednesday.
The company announced back in June that it was planning on launching YouTube Gaming — a competitor to Amazon's Twitch. Amazon's recent acquirement was also on Google's radar for a while, but Twitch was won by the former company in a bidding war. Hence: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em (i.e., create your own gaming video site).
YouTube's service, available both in online and app formats, stores livestreams of games and videos about games in one large "channel." It also organizes videos by subject matter, such as games. As per YouTube's June press release, "when you want something specific, you can search with confidence, knowing that typing 'call' will show you 'Call of Duty' and not 'Call Me Maybe.'"
YouTube Gaming is intended to have a collective, community feel, which is why YouTube has designed it so that livestreams are highlighted on the homepage: "livestreams bring the gaming community closer together," the website asserts.
While YouTube Gaming technically launches on August 26, it's only available in the U.S. and the U.K., with no word on whether it'll be available outside of these two countries anytime soon.
Via: Tech Crunch
