YouTube announced in its official blog that the YouTube Gaming mobile app will be available on iOS and Android in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. The blog states that it will expand further to a larger number of countries soon.
The blog also mentions some new ways in which gamers can watch videos and connect with the community. For instance, YouTube Gaming now has a simplified homepage with easier navigation. They have added pages for users to manage their games and channels, and discover new ones.
There is a new ‘Live’ tab on the homepage that brings together top streams, top games and streams from channels a user is subscribed to. YouTube Gaming’s Android live stream player joins iOS and the HTML5 desktop player with an upgrade to support quality switching, 60fps playback and DVR mode.
On Android, users can pop out the YouTube Gaming player to keep it visible above other apps on the device.
Since its launch last summer, YouTube has been rolling out new features for the gaming app. The company enabled Mobile Capture so users could record and live stream mobile gameplay on-the-go directly from Android devices, and it also introduced Sponsorships in beta that made it easier for users to back their favourite gamers while receiving extra perks like a live chat badge and access to exclusive chat sessions.