YouTube has launched its standalone video streaming app and website, as the Google-owned firm looks to take on Amazon’s Twitch in the growing gaming audience sector.
The service, called ‘YouTube Gaming’ is a dedicated app and website focusing exclusively on gaming content, with a greater emphasis on live steams.
It offers individual pages for more than 25,000 games, with each featuring videos and high-quality live streams.
The company says it aims to keep gamers connected to the best players and all the latest information about their scene.
First announced in June, the site allows players to stream their own gameplay more easily, without needing to schedule an event in advance.
YouTube says the streaming element is “front-and-center” of the new service – and it may help the video sharing site’s owner Google to keep up with Amazon, which bought game-streaming site Twitch.tv in September 2014.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that the audience for Twitch.tv had risen from 45 million monthly viewers in 2013 to 100 million by the end of last year.
The viewing of championship gaming is becoming increasingly popular.
In October 2013, 32 million people watched top-ranked players compete in Riot Games’ “League of Legends” on Twitch and YouTube, among other platforms.
That was more than the entire audience for the TV series finales of Breaking Bad, 24 and The Sopranos combined.