With an unanticipated announcement on Twitter, YouTube has branched into the gaming with YouTube Gaming, seemingly Google’s answer to Twitch.
YouTube is aware of their failures and will be putting an end to the YouTube Gaming app. Instead, the company will be bringing some of the features over to the main YouTube site and youtube.com/gaming.
The extent of Google’s current gaming reach is mostly limited to its YouTube Gaming streaming service and of course the Play Store with Android and Daydream VR games. However, the company might have a more direct interest in the space with the hire of gaming veteran Phil Harrison.
YouTube has clearly been the dominant force when it comes to internet videos over the last 12 years. In 2015, the platform decided to chase Amazon’s live streaming service, Twitch, by launching their own live streaming version of the site called YouTube Gaming. YouTube Gaming has been met with some very negative criticism since its launch. With incredibly long delays, Minimal emotes, channel moderation, and a very basic user interface. It seemed like YouTube Gaming was just not handled the way people expected it to be. With the incredible success of Twitch, it seems like YouTube Gaming was a poor competitor.
The gaming scene is pretty huge on YouTube and it's definitely part of its success. I'm surprised they didn't try to capitalise on it sooner, rather than giving away a chunk of market to Twitch.