YouTube to boost gaming support, providing strong competition to Twitch
The streaming platform is evolving.
YouTube has released a new blog post explaining how it will support gaming content on the streaming platform.
This year alone has seen 800bn gaming-related video views, 90m hours of livestream content, and 250m gaming videos uploaded.
And with high profile departures from Twitch to YouTube - namely Dr Lupo and TimTheTatMan - YouTube is clearly heavily investing in gaming content.
The blog post, from Global Head of Gaming Ryan Wyatt, explains how YouTube differentiates itself by offering not only live streaming, but long and short form videos too. It also offers multiple ways for creators to monetise their content, and is working on chat moderation tools - something of a lure away from Twitch.
The post also highlights how YouTube is working with content creators on new features. Subscriber-only Chat and Clips were two features directly inspired by streamers, while Membership Milestone Chats, Live Control Room and Super Thanks all had streamer collaboration.
Further, YouTube is investing in content creators, naming Dr Lupo and TimTheTatMan as key examples, as well as supporting short-form videos with the Shorts Fund. Esports will continue to be supported too, with the Minecraft Championships Pride 2021 (which raised over $340,000 for the Trevor Project charity) as a major success.
For the future, YouTube will work on new tools to improve the discoverability of live content, more ways to monetise, and improved chat features. It's also working on Gifted Memberships and Live Redirect for Gaming to send viewers to another livestream.
These features in particular will bring YouTube Gaming in-line with the Twitch standard. Yet as many streamers continue to be disillusioned with Twitch - from the hate raids, to the poor implementation of new features and the high profile leak - the draw of YouTube is becoming stronger and will bring some healthy competition to streaming platforms.
YouTube has also partnered with Discord to offer free access to YouTube Premium and Discord Nitro.
"YouTube Gaming recognises that content creators will be more important than ever to game developers over the next five years," says Wyatt.
"We've got a lot coming, so hold on, hang tight with us, and stay tuned for more updates."