YouTube To Shut Down Its Gaming App In March
YouTube recently updated its gaming hub to look more like the how YouTube normally looks on a laptop or desktop. Following this, it is going to shut down its dedicated gaming app in March 2019. Most of the features the app used has now made its way to the Youtube page, leaving the app redundant.
The YouTube gaming app was launched in 2015 by Google to compete against Amazon’s Twitch. Twitch is a popular video game live-streaming site. The reason why Google felt this need can be seen in the numbers. 1.9 billion users visit YouTube every month, out of which about 200 million use the platform to watch other people playing video games. This is exactly what Twitch is built for, exclusively. Therefore, the company wanted to provided a dedicated platform to address the specific needs of gamers.
The New Hub:
The New Gaming Hub
This didn’t work out in the way it was intended, as the company itself feels that the app is now redundant. Users have another alternative, of course. The new YouTube gaming hub is more suited for users and is built around discovering creators, according to the company. The hub will also integrate more clearly on to the main site. Another important aspect is that the hub will resemble the YouTube homepage, which users are familiar with and will find easier to navigate through.
Personalised recommendations based on your watch history will appear at the top along with ‘top live games’ and latest gaming videos from subscribers. It will also include a dedicated slots for live streams and trending videos.
The company has also worked to ensure the experience is as good as one gets from Twitch. The entire layout has been changed, to make its easier to access videos. Now, if you choose a certain game, you get a whole lot of options. If one clicks on Fortnite, it will have various shelves such as VOD (Video on Demand), Live, creators, etc which are highlighted.
The company plans to ensure that YouTube’s biggest user base stays in tact. The rising competition from Twitch has sounded off alarms and a call for action. You can have a look at the new gaming hub here.
