And by ‘improved’ they mean ‘usable’
Today, YouTube announced YouTube Gaming: a hub specifically designed to curate gaming content. YouTube Gaming will take the form of both a website and a mobile app, and will launch sometime “this summer” alongside improved live streaming tools.
Through YouTube Gaming, viewers have the option of adding channels to their ‘collection’, which allows for quick access, or ‘subscribing’ to them, which alerts viewers to live shows. The app is also designed to filter out non-gaming related items. “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,'” writes YouTube product manager Alan Joyce in the press release. Over 25,000 games will have their own page, which sounds like a great way to get all the latest Cooking Mama content pumped straight into your veins.
If you make videos (like we do), the improved livestream functionality should interest you. Streams can be automatically converted into a YouTube video, and shows no longer need to be scheduled ahead of time. Now, you can start a red-hot Gardening Mama 2: Forest Friends stream at the drop of a hat.
The way I see it, there’s two ways this could go. Either YouTube Gaming allows for the discovery of exciting new content in addition to the stuff you already like (such as Babysitting Mama lore videos), or the site becomes a race to the bottom as the trend de jour clogs the ad-ridden front page like a disease. If Google is showing off the app at their event, we’ll have some impressions later on in the day.
