Part of the fun of being a modern gamer is that it's now so easy to find other people who are as excited about the things you love. Whether you're after unboxings, reviews, walk-throughs, speedruns, or just plain discussion about a game you love, chances are you can find it somewhere on the Web. Sites such as Twitch, UStream and GamingLive have provided dedicated homes for this kind of content. And now Google's getting in on the act, too, by curating the wealth of content that's already on YouTube.
YouTube announced Friday that it is launching a new app and site called YouTube Gaming, which funnels all of that energy into its own section of the video site. The service is set to launch this summer, in the U.S. and the U.K.
"YouTube Gaming is built to be all about your favorite games and gamers, with more videos than anywhere else," wrote YouTube product manager Alan Joyce in a company blog post that will be posted later today and was shared with The Washington Post. "From 'Asteroids' to 'Zelda', more than 25,000 games will each have their own page, a single place for all the best videos and live streams about that title. You’ll also find channels from a wide array of game publishers and YouTube creators."
The service will work like this: viewers can add games to a list of titles they want to watch and be updated when interesting videos about it pop up on the Web. Search will also be game-focused, Joyce said: "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.'"
The centerpiece of the service, the company said, will be live streams -- the bread-and-butter of Amazon's Twitch service, and therefore a move that takes on that service head-on. Users can sign up to be notified when a certain video producer starts a new feed. Players will also receive recommendations of games they might enjoy, based on what they express interest in.
Google's going heavily after game video makers, by making it super-easy to broadcast over the service, in part by redesigning its system so that streamers can hold impromptu events. It will also make it very easy to share links to live-streams.
The company will be showing the service off at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles next week, where users can try it out. In the meantime, those interested in signing up for YouTube gaming can monitor the new service's Twitter feed and Web site for details.