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The YouTube Gaming app was officially shuttered at the end of May, and with it... well, not too much was lost. The app itself was basically a heavily skinned alternative to the regular YouTube app, but with a strict focus that limited video suggestions to game-oriented content. While most things were moved to the main YouTube app a while ago, one core feature didn't make it over before YouTube pulled the plug: Screencasting. That oversight has been corrected in the latest update to the YouTube app, so you can livestream your gaming sessions (or whatever else) like before.
Late last year, Google announced that it was shutting down the standalone YouTube Gaming app as it migrated the features to the main application. We had a shutdown date of March of this year, but that Google seems to have missed that mark. Now, the company is saying the app will shut down on May 30, just a few short days away.
YouTube Premium subscribers have started receiving $2 in free Super Chat credits to support their favorite creator during a livestream. The company has confirmed that it is beta testing monthly Super Chat gifts.
If you're just about to leave the comfort of Wi-Fi to risk expensive data fees and dead zones — or, you know, get on a plane for 2 hours — you might plan ahead and download some YouTube videos to kill some time. If you're like most people, you still want to see the highest possible quality, so you might have been disappointed that YouTube caps offline downloads at a measly 720p. That may be changing as it looks like the cap will be rising to a cool 1080p in the future.
Before the days of Twitch, or even Justin.tv, YouTube was the one place we all went for gaming content. Whether they were Let's Plays of games that were out of our reach, guides on how to complete quests or boss battles, or lore videos that dove deep into a game's story, YouTube was the place to find it all. In 2015, the company launched YouTube Gaming to combat the rising popularity of Twitch. It also ended up being a testing ground of sorts for things like a dark theme, Super Chat, and Channel Memberships. But in a weird turn of events, the popularity of the service (according to YouTube, at least) is leading to its shutdown in March 2019.
There's absolutely no shortage of gaming content on YouTube, but for users who crave nothing less than laser-focused dedication to their gaming needs, we've got YouTube Gaming, launched three years back in what was seen as a direct response to the rise of Twitch. While the service has its own app, and own presence on the web, there's understandably a lot of crossover between Gaming and regular YouTube. That connection's only becoming more pronounced this week, as we learn about efforts to synchronize channel subscriptions between the two.
YouTube is a lot of things to a lot of people, but for gamers, it's the ultimate cheat guide to every game, ever. If you can't figure out how Nathan Drake is supposed to get through that tower scene with the snipers or you're stumped over the pattern needed to survive 8 more seconds of Cup Head, you're going straight to YouTube. But depending on the game, you might have to sit through 20 painstaking minutes of slow gameplay to understand a strategy, or you might have to rewatch the same clip a dozen times to spot the timing needed for each move. That just got a lot easier as the YouTube Gaming app just added playback speed controls, and they're a bit faster to access than on the regular YouTube app.
The YouTube Gaming app has been flying under the radar for a while as most of the updates have been focused on fixing bugs or making fairly minor changes–there haven't even been any new easter eggs since v1.97. Yesterday's update shows a little bit more activity as both cosmetic and functional changes were made. A revamped app icon and splash screen bring a little freshness to the look, and the always familiar autoplay feature from the core YouTube app is now available so you can put on an endless stream of game reviews or let's plays.
We've been hearing for a while that YouTube was planning to do away with paid content and now it's finally taking effect. It's no longer possible to create paid content, and from December paid channels will no longer be accessible at all. Individual purchased videos will still be available to whoever bought them until 2022, however. Fortunately, for gamers at least, Google is introducing an expanded version of sponsorships for YouTube Gaming, which have been in testing for some time.
An update to YouTube Gaming began rolling out last week, but this one is pretty tiny by most standards. While it surely has the typical bug fixes and performance improvements, the only visible change is a brand new counter above the chat box on live streams. Of course, with the increased version number, there is also a new Easter egg to track down, and the answer is in this post – if you happen to be a collector, that is. As always, if you don't already have the update, there's a download link at the bottom of the post.
YouTube Gaming, Google's direct competitor to Twitch, has had something of a lukewarm response from the gaming community. Many streamers opt to stay on Twitch's site, the advantages over the standard YouTube app and website are minimal, and YouTube's infamous Content ID system can result in channels receiving copyright notices for seemingly anything.
The YouTube Gaming app received an update yesterday, taking it to v1.7. Google has already posted the changelog and this release appears to be mostly about fixing up the chat experience. There are improvements to both the chat interface and the underlying code that drives it. There are supposed to be changes to better support Android 7.0 Nougat, although it's unclear what they are, and the typical assortment of bug fixes and performance improvements. Of course, with each new version comes a new easter egg.
It has been about six weeks since the last YouTube Gaming update rolled out, and it's clear the developers have been keeping pretty busy on making changes. The latest update has quite a few improvements to be found throughout the app, not to mention at least one feature that might be considered pretty huge. Topping the list is a new live comment stream that overlays gameplay videos so you can see the action and watch the commentary at the same time. A few features have been moved to more convenient places and a video history is now available. Finally, there's a new easter egg, and it's pretty awesome.
T-Mobile's unlimited video streaming option lets customers get all the content they want without burning through their data. This sounds like a win-win, but Binge On has received push back for concerns over net neutrality and limiting the quality of video streams. By this point, you know what you're getting, and you probably either love it or hate it.
YouTube Gaming is one of the younger entries in the company's ever-expanding stable of apps, but its development team isn't wasting any time implementing new features. The latest update to YouTube Gaming is positively packed with new stuff, none of which is more dramatic than a pop-out video player which can be viewed while using any other app. To try it, press the menu button overlaid on any video, then tap "popout player" (If you're not seeing the option, try force-closing the app and restarting it).
A new version of YouTube's Gaming offspring has been rolling out on the Play Store with a long list of interface improvements and new features that's sure to make any gamer happy.
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Google launched YouTube Gaming a few weeks back, but you need lots of content to make that service work. Now you can easily record your Android games and upload them to YouTube with the Play Games app (which we spotted in a teardown). However, this feature is only coming to the US and UK for the time being.
Not everybody is into live streaming gameplay, but for those that are, and particularly those that play a lot of games on Android, this week's update for YouTube Gaming was a pretty big deal. It brought much-needed support for recording and live broadcasting your screen directly to YouTube. While the update is significant for the features we now have, it also happens to include some signs for a few more things we can expect in the future. We can see a few of YouTube's newer features are going to hop over to the gaming side, including background playback, offline playback, and even Cardboard support. There are even a couple of great jokes meant just for teardown readers.