Youtube launched competitor 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 resource Twitch.tv has been and has been successfully developing.

Just over a year ago, information appeared on the network that the search giant was negotiating to purchase a streaming service, however, the deal did not take place - Twitch.tv was bought by Amazon for 970 million US dollars. After that, it became clear that Google “wants this business” and will not back down - the new project will not keep itself waiting long. Youtube has the possibility of live broadcasts, but due to the blurring of the content of the full presence in the market of cybersport and gaming streaming, there was no question. Now Youtube has taken a serious step in this direction.
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Video presentation of the new resource

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

If you look at the list of games on Youtube.Gaming, then you can see that the resource, perhaps temporarily, does not have an emphasis on professional gaming. The top 5 "trend" projects are occupied by games far from eSports:



Based on this, it is possible to make a very cautious conclusion that a direct “collision” with Twitch is not planned yet: a new project and those games that are not popular with a competitor are promoted by a subsidiary of Youtube.

Entering the market only in the second half of 2015 is certainly not the best start, but Youtube.Gaming has its own strong side in the person of the “big brother”. Twitch often has problems associated with enormous loads during the finals of major tournaments, as well as because of the increased frequency of DDoS attacks. If the new resource, using the power and experience of the mother project, can provide a better service, a stable image stream in high quality and acceptable monetization conditions for the streamers, it will be able to win back market share from Twitch.

Now on the cybersport scene a period of calm after a number of major tournaments. The new season will begin in the fall and then it will be possible to give an initial assessment on whether the Amazon’s Twitch service has a direct competitor, or the Youtube.Gaming manual will focus on a less “hardcore” but missed Twitch audience of non-competitive games.