[NewsPoster]

Google has launched its attempt to take on the Amazon-owned Twitch in the gaming video market, with a section of YouTube specially created for gamers. YouTube Gaming is a subsection of the main video service that purely serves video game-related videos to its viewers, including "let's play," walkthroughs, speed runs, and other content, as well as a greater focus on streaming gameplay live from players to their followers.

The site differs from the main YouTube appearance, offering a darker color scheme and putting streaming content front and center, with 60fps streams and live chat. While YouTube has already got streaming capabilities, the service is heavily pitching them towards game streamers, with the major benefit being the ability for viewers to pause the stream and rewind it to see what happened earlier in the broadcast. Streams can also be archived as a main YouTube video for later viewing.

Existing gaming content from YouTube is available to view in this new subsection, with videos divided by individual channels and specific game titles. This immediately gives YouTube Gaming a massive archive of video it can introduce to viewers, a significant head start this early into the site's life.

Free apps for the service have also popped up in the major app stores, with the iOS and Android versions borrowing heavily from the main YouTube app. Videos can be pushed to streaming devices using Google Cast, and the apps can also alert users to when their subscribed channels post new content or start a stream.