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YouTube Announces YouTube Gaming, Will Debut This Summer

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Since YouTube didn't acquire Twitch.tv, it decided to make its own. Parent company Google lost out on the gaming video site in September 2014 when Amazon grabbed it for $970 million. Now, YouTube has announced a rival destination: YouTube Gaming. The site will debut sometime this summer.

While YouTube itself has plenty of gaming content, the new site will have nothing but, and will be designed for the gaming enthusiast. The site will host dedicated pages for over 25,000 games, everything from Asteroids to Zelda, YouTube product manager Alan Joyce says. Viewers will be able to subscribe to channels and get notifications when live streams start. YouTube Gaming will also offer tailored recommendations.

YouTube promises to upgrade its live streaming with the release of YouTube Gaming, so that players don't need to schedule a live event beforehand. Players will also be able to use a single link to share all of their live streams. The live streaming will support existing features such as 60fps video, DVR controls, and the ability to turn live streams into on-demand YouTube files.

While the site won't be available until later this summer, visitors at the E3 video gaming expo in Los Angeles can get an early look at the YouTube booth.

For its part, Twitch doesn't seem overly concerned about the new competition. When YouTube Gaming opened its Twitter account on Friday by saying "A new player has entered the game," Twitch responded with "Welcome Player 2. Add me on Google+." 

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