Google has announced that they will be letting developers add a live streaming functionality to their games for Android. That means mobile players will be able to live stream their games to YouTube as they play, and show the world that amazing Candy Crush combo or how they dominated a battle in Clash of Clans. Currently, gamers need additional programs to broadcast. But with this, they’ll be able to start streaming with the push of a button from their favorite games.
This will help bring more live streaming to YouTube, which is competing with Twitch in the live stream market. According to Twitch, the average viewer watched 421.6 minutes per month, compared to the average YouTube viewer watching 291 minutes per month in 2015. With Google owning YouTube while Amazon owns Twitch, this is going to bring more traffic for Google and possibly close that gap.
Though YouTube has over 1 billion users — that’s about 1/3 of all people who use the internet — the site is generally used more for uploaded videos than it is live streams. Google is looking to change that with this new functionality, which is expected to go live in the next few weeks.
But this isn’t the only thing that Google is bringing to mobile play…
Ever wish you could demo a mobile game before downloading it? Well, now you will be able to. Google also plans on adding a function called Trial Run Ads, which will let you try a game for 10 minutes without purchasing it. There will be a “Try now” button on many games that will allow players to play a game via stream. After the trial period is up, you can choose to download the full game. This option will be available to Wi-Fi users, and is also expected to launch in the coming weeks.
