Last year, Google Inc. tried and failed to purchase the popular video game livestreaming service Twitch.tv, and the site ultimately went to Amazon Inc. for a $970 million deal. Now, Google is fighting back by reportedly spinning its own livestreaming service on YouTube to have a heavier focus on games and esports, which continue to have one of the largest, most engaged  audiences watching live content online.

“Gaming and esports in particular are going to be a big driving force for the new-look YouTube Live,” one source told The Daily Dot. “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.”

While Twitch may be the current king of livestream gaming, YouTube’s overall traffic dwarfs it by comparison, and it is not without its own gaming fan base. YouTube has a vibrant Let’s Play scene with millions of people watching playthroughs of games. One Let’s Play-er, PewDiePie, even has the most subscribed channel on YouTube with over 35 million subscribers. Many of PewDiePie’s videos have view counts comparable with episodes of some of the top shows on television.

“The time is right”

But YouTube’s primary business so far has been in pre-recorded video, and it has only dabbled in livestreaming over the last few years with a minimal adoption rate by its users. YouTube has been broadcasting the occasional esports tournament before, most notably the League of Legends Champion Series, but more viewers continue to watch the same events on Twitch instead.

Sources told The Daily Dot that YouTube has hired around 50 engineers with experience is livestreaming, calling the staff increase a “a pretty big statement of intent.” The source said, “The time is right as well, with Twitch moving into other areas such as music and so on. Google doesn’t want to be too far behind in the arms race.”

YouTube has yet to make a statement on the report, but it is expected to make an official announcement regarding the new game streaming focus at this year’s E3 conference in June.

photo credit: Rego – d4u.hu via photopin cc