System Software 3.0 of the PS4’s firmware is currently in pre-release beta testing now and one of the additions (amongst a larger number of other enhancements) is the option to broadcast to YouTube (basically for YouTube Gaming).
The other interesting social feature is the ability to (finally) create communities. There are both pros and cons to this since more popular titles means there will be an overabundance of redundant communities whereas niche titles will really shine since this will make it far easier to create a feedback loop including connectivity to external streaming sites along with PlayStation Live (where it is finally being upgraded to support video clips and screen shots in this update).
As for YouTube Gaming, a beta version of the Android app was previewed last week and there are already key areas where it has Twitch beat by a mile on the user experience front; namely discovery and search. As I wrote previously, Twitch is terrible in this area where both the website and iOS apps struggle to find not just relevant matches, but also results that work.
Twitch search results still bring up outdated cached results from now long removed video on demand content (as a result of the archival changes AND when a user deletes those VOD’s by themselves). Recently, they announced they are finally making the transition to HTML5 (just the controls first since the underlying video format is still defaulting to Flash). Moving everyone over to HLS (which also allows for archived broadcasts to be viewable via mobile devices) has also been slow going (priority to partners, then to streamers with a high number of views and/or followers, then to everyone else).
Again, none of this will be remotely an issue with YouTube Gaming since your live broadcast is automatically spooled to a VOD file (one that you can even timeshift on the fly during a live broadcast).
What was missing from the YouTube Gaming beta preview was the actual broadcasting capabilities of the service. The fact of the matter is that there really isn’t much to say since one can already broadcast to YouTube (via the current live broadcasting system) using OBS and Elgato’s Game Capture hardware/software combo. The biggest difference with YouTube Gaming is there won’t be a need to schedule a live broadcast as one is now required to do on YouTube.
With both Sony and Microsoft incorporating the same “easy to stream” setup to YouTube (Gaming) in upcoming system updates, that’s a huge non-issue on the easy broadcasting side of the equation.
The biggest thing will be monetization features. Again, some of Twitch’s biggest streamers may have very exclusive contracts that also contain some form of non-compete clause so the monetization aspect may not even be that big of an issue for this particular group. Where it does matter is for everyone else considering that Twitch doesn’t make it consistently easy for one to become a partner streamer (some folks meet all the criteria but have been denied with what amounts to a “don’t call us, we’ll call you” sort of response). And it’s that particular demographic that will be moving over en-masse to YouTube Gaming.
Myself, I don’t have a huge love for a lot of things that Google does when it comes to mining your personal information. What I am looking forward to with their putting weight behind YouTube Gaming though is the much needed competition given how poor the user experience is when it comes to Twitch on both their web site and mobile apps.
P.S. a friend who streams primarily to USTREAM via PlayStation Live says she will try to use YouTube Gaming as a test.
