Video-sharing website YouTube recently announced that it will soon support live video game streaming in Android platform. The move is part of the company's plan to capitalize on the growing popularity of mobile gaming.
According to The Verge, the streaming plan still does not have an actual release date. YouTube only said "soon." The streaming feature will be released along with the Japanese version of the YouTube Gaming app. The app was released exclusively in the United States and United Kingdom in August.
Japan is the first market in Asia to receive YouTube Gaming. The feature is currently available on PC and console. Users also need to install extra software or peripheral devices in order to capture live gaming videos on the mobile platform, according to CNBC.
The announcement was made on the first day of the Tokyo Game Show. YouTube global gaming president Ryan Wyatt released a statement saying, "Japan's mobile games define its gaming culture, far more so than in other countries. This trend shows there's a real need for gamers to easily share what's on their screen with the gaming community as it happens."
YouTube's recent foray into video game streaming will compete with the current leader, Twitch, which is a more established platform in the gaming community. On the other hand, Twitch began offering mobile video game streaming since 2014.
For now, the video game streaming app is only limited to the Android platform. However, the company said that it has plans of integrating the service into the iOS platform.