Live streaming games to dedicated websites has undoubtedly taken off in the past five years, with massive audiences joining live broadcasts for a wide range of titles. The Xbox One and Playstation 4, which released nearly two years ago, brought game streaming to top sites as a in-built feature, thanks to partnerships with streaming platforms such as Twitch, YouTube and Ustream.
While home consoles are leaving their mark on these services, mobile gaming has seen little love. Due to the nature of these devices and their operating systems, the idea may have seemed a bit abstract. Luckily, Google is now looking to innovate by bringing Android game streaming to their recently released YouTube Gaming service.
Google unveiled at Japan’s annual Tokyo Game Show event, that an upcoming update to Android will add support for the ability to stream mobile games directly to YouTube. Japan will be the first to receive the feature as Google is hoping to capitalize on the popularity of mobile games in the market.
YouTube Gaming’s head, Ryan Wyatt explained the reasoning behind the decision:
"Japan's mobile games define its gaming culture, far more so than in other countries. This trend shows there's a real need for gamers to easily share what's on their screen with the gaming community, as it happens."
YouTube Gaming has seen an influx of positive feedback, and while the service is offering a range of features not seen from competitors, it will struggle to take down the behemoth Twitch, previously acquired by Amazon. With a large community already on the service, YouTube will have to to innovate in order to gain a similar following to their primary rival.
Source: Engadget | Image: Android Central
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