YouTube launched its game app "YouTube Gaming" on Wednesday on the Google Play Store. Google had been testing the new service for the last few months and previously announced that YouTube Gaming would be ready before the end of the summer.
The popular video sharing platform's interest in games has increased these days, as Google was in talks to buy Twitch; however, rival tech giant Amazon bought it for almost $1 billion. Since then, Google's YouTube had been searching for a new website and mobile apps dedicated to gaming. YouTube Gaming is now an independent platform, offering users video content and livestreaming for a wide-range of gaming-related channels.
A new rival to the Amazon-owned video game streaming service Twitch, YouTube Gaming completed beta testing before its launch. Users can chat with each other and broadcast game-related content online or follow their favorite games and evaluate them. The service has more than 25,000 gaming-focused pages. The newly-designed website's search bar prioritizes official gaming pages over other content pages as well.
YouTube had already promised a big announcement concerning the game industry prior to this year's E3 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo. For some time, YouTube has been working to get more shares from the tech and entertainment market. For instance, in October, it turned on 60 frames per second (FPS) support for videos. It will be available in the U.S. and the U.K. at first, but it is possible to watch broadcasts anywhere around the world. Currently, the service is open to Android users. In the upcoming months, iOS and Windows Phone are expected to support the new app as well.
