YouTube Gaming is getting the ability to stream directly from an Android device, YouTube announced at Tokyo Games Show 2015. This isn’t necessarily a surprise, nor even anything new for Android – select devices have been able to stream or record straight on the device without needing an intermediary before. But this is a big deal because it’s Google-supported. Now, while the typical Android OS fragmentation means not everyone can do this, and it seems like Google is focusing on the Japanese market first. Ryan Wyatt of Google says that “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."
The impact in the west could be a lot different. After all, gaming culture in the west is still heavily console and PC-driven. And anyone who streams on a mobile-specific service will tell you there is a major cultural difference between streaming on Mobcrush and Kamcord, where there’s an audience that wants to watch mobile games, versus one on a service like Twitch where people who hate mobile games rule the roost. So, could Google find a way to make YouTube Gaming for mobile games fit in with a hostile audience? The first step might be to establish it among a friendly one. And having that streaming built in to the OS is a massive first step.
