Google at one point was in talks to buy Twitch.tv and own it alongside Youtube, but Twitch eventually agreed to be bought out by Amazon instead. One can only guess that after being spurned by Twitch.tv, Google went straight to work on developing their own live-streaming gaming platform on Youtube. Which now brings us Youtube Gaming.

YouTube plans to take on Twitch’s streaming service with their own dedicated site and app for gaming. Youtube Gaming will feature more than 25,000 games each with their own page, hosting videos and live streams. The look and feel is quite different from Youtube. Even on smartphones and tablets it’s a new look for a Google video product. It will also allow gaming fans to watch and interact with live broadcasts of streamers playing games.

The similarities don’t end there as the business model for streamers is pretty much the same: advertising revenue is shared between the broadcaster and YouTube, and like Twitch, YouTube also allows for a “tip jar” (ie: donations) function for viewers to send money to the broadcaster. It’s unknown whether Youtube Gaming will allow subscribing to streamers for a monthly fee ads free.

Search on Youtube gaming is also being targetted for gamers. If you are searching for “Star”, it’ll recommend or suggest games like Starcraft (as opposed to movies like Star Wars, or something like that). Also, just like a DVR, YouTube livestreams can be instantly rewound or watched on a delay.