Youtube launches rival Twitch.tv - Gaming.Youtube.com

Buy and close Twitch failed, will have to compete with Amazon

Youtube.gaming homepage

Today, Youtube launched its own video game streaming service, Youtube.Gaming . They are not the first in this field - since 2011, the Twitch.tv resource has existed and is successfully developing .

A little more than a year ago, information appeared in the network that the search giant was negotiating the purchase of a streaming service, however, the deal did not take place - Amazon bought the Twitch.tvfor 970 million US dollars. After that, it became clear that Google “wants this business” and will not back down - the new project will not be long in coming. There is the possibility of live broadcasts on Youtube, but due to the blurry content on the full presence in the market of e-sports and gaming streaming, there was no question. Now Youtube has taken a serious step in this direction.


Video presentation of a new resource

In the presentation video, youtube positions its subsidiary project as "created for gamers" and they are right in some ways. Their main competitor, Twitch, first of all broadcasts a lot of e-sports events in such disciplines as Dota 2, League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and others. The peak load on the service falls precisely at the time of large tournaments, when other games are not popular: on Twitch, people are mainly interested in competitive disciplines and do not watch how someone plays an EvE or single-player game. An exception is the first days of releases of large projects of the caliber GTA V or Bloodborne. The Twitch audience is primarily interested in eSports.

If you look closely at the list of games on Youtube.Gaming, you can see that the resource, perhaps temporarily, does not have an emphasis on professional gaming. The lines of the top 5 “trending” projects are occupied by games far from e-sports:



Based on this, we can draw a very cautious conclusion that no direct “clash” with Twitch is planned: the YouTube subsidiary is promoting new products and those games that are not popular with the competitor.

Entering the market only in the second half of 2015 is certainly not the best start, but Youtube.Gaming has its own strengths in the face of the “big brother”. Twitch often experiences problems associated with tremendous workloads during the finals of major tournaments, as well as due to the recent increase in DDoS attacks. If the new resource, using the capabilities and experience of the parent project, can provide better service, a stable image stream in high quality and acceptable monetization conditions for streamers, it will be able to regain market share from Twitch.

Now on the esports scene there is a period of calm after a series of major tournaments. The new season will begin in the fall and then it will be possible to give an initial assessment on whether Amazon-owned Twitch has a direct competitor, or if the management of Youtube.Gaming will focus on a less “hardcore” but missed Twitch audience of non-competitive games.