Google challenges Twitch with YouTube Gaming, launching this Summer

Remember when Google was originally trying to acquire video game streaming website Twitch.tv, but Amazon swooped in last minute and bought it for a crazy amount of money? Well, Google isn't just going to sit around as Amazon dominates the video game market.

Announced today, this summer Google will launch YouTube Gaming, a new app and website dedicated solely to video games.

Despite sharing the YouTube brand, YouTube Gaming is being built as a standalone website service that'll host dedicated pages for more than 25,000 games at launch. These pages will serve as the single place for all the best videos and livestreams about that game. Channels from a "wide array" of game publishers and YouTube creators will also be on the website.

"Keeping up with these games and channels is now super easy, too," Google boasts of its new website. "Add a game to your collection for quick access whenever you want to check up on the latest videos. Subscribe to a channel, and you'll get a notification as soon as they start a live stream. Uncover new favorites with recommendations based on the games and channels you love. And 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.”

In direct competition with Twitch.tv, YouTube Gaming will be put livestreams "front-and-center" on the home page. Google is also launching "an improved live experience" that'll make it simpler to broadcast your gameplay to YouTube. For starters, you'll no longer need to schedule a live event ahead of time, and a single link will be created that you can share for all of your streams. Of course, 60 frame per second streaming and DVR will be included, with the ability to automatically convert your stream into a YouTube video.

YouTube Gaming will be available this Summer, starting in the U.S. and U.K., but those in attendance at E3 next week will get an early look at everything Google has been working on.