YouTube Live will be taking on Twitch later this year

There was a time last year when everyone was certain that Google was going to acquire Twitch, the undisputed king of live streaming, but obviously that never came through and Amazon ended up acquiring the company. Google’s live-streaming ambitions are far from over, however, and the company has announced that YouTube is almost ready to re-launch its own live-streaming platform with particular focus on esports and live gaming. 

YouTube is preparing to relaunch its livestreaming platform with a renewed focus on live gaming and esports specifically, according to sources within the streaming industry. The Google-owned online video behemoth, which tried and failed to acquire streaming giant Twitch last year, has watched the growth of esports with great interest and is looking to acquire broadcast content and talent within the industry. “Gaming and esports in particular are going to be a big driving force for the new-look YouTube Live,” one source said. “There’ll be huge opportunities for established streamers and organizations soon and I would say that the record numbers of esports viewers are only going to grow when Google start promoting and partnering with these events.” YouTube began experimenting with livestreaming in 2010, broadcasting cricket matches from the Indian Premier League, bragging at the time that these were the first free online broadcast of a major sporting event. Since then, however, the site’s livestreaming arm hasn’t really lived up to early expectations, outside of a few marquee events. And in early 2014, YouTube removed any mention of live events from its homepage.