Google Counters Amazon’s Twitch With YouTube Gaming App And Website

When it comes to video streaming, YouTube is the king of the castle. Google’s video property is the dominant streaming platform and you’ll find everything from movies, to how-to guides, to adorable puppy videos that could keep you entertained for years on end. But for those who are into streaming of a different sort, say for example game streaming, the best option out there has been Twitch. When Google lost out on a bid to acquire Twitch last year, it was only a matter of time that it would come clawing back with a solution of its own.

That day is today, with Google officially announcing YouTube Gaming. YouTube Gaming launches this summer in the U.S. and UK and more than 25,000 games will have their own dedicated pages for you to peruse. Each page will give you access to video and live streams for their respective game titles, so if you’re a fan of Zelda or even an old standby like Super Mario Brothers, rest assured that your appetite for content will be fulfilled. You will also be able to subscribe to pages, and YouTube will even recommend new pages based on your current gaming likes.

And don’t think that searching within YouTube Gaming will lead to results from Google’s “other” streaming service. “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,’” says YouTube Gaming product manager Alan Joyce.

Late last month, Google planted the seeds for its game streaming service, telling us that it would support 720p60 and 1080p60 transcoding for “silky smooth [gaming] playback.” Google is also promising to make it even easier for you to broadcast live gameplay to YouTube. And you’ll of course be given DVR functionality and your live streams will automatically be converted to YouTube video.

Twitch definitely has the upper hand and a huge 100,000 million strong user base, but we’re happy to see Google give some nice competition with YouTube Gaming. And to show that there are no hard feelings when it comes to the online game streaming market, we leave you with this:

. @YouTubeGaming Welcome Player 2. Add me on Google+. #kappa

— Twitch (@Twitch) June 12, 2015