YouTube to Kill Gaming App, Moves Content to New Hub

Gaming content has a new spot on YouTube.

The Google-owned video sharing site on Tuesday launched a new gaming hub, where you can browse uploaded videos and live streams. At the same time, the company announced plans to discontinue its standalone YouTube Gaming app after three years.

"We have a strong and vibrant audience on the YouTube Gaming app, but the amount of gamers we are able to reach is far bigger on YouTube," YouTube Director of Product Management Christina Chen wrote in a blog post. "That's why, in March 2019, we'll retire the YouTube Gaming app and focus all of our gaming efforts on YouTube where we can reach our entire gaming community."

When you visit the new gaming hub on YouTube, you'll see the top live games of the moment, the top live streams, videos from your subscriptions, trending content, and other personalized content based what you like to watch. YouTube will also show some love to smaller creators each week via a new "On The Rise" feature.

Plus, it should now be easier to find content related to specific titles thanks to new game pages. The company said there are "tens of thousands of different game pages" for titles big and small on the platform.

Gaming content is popular on YouTube. More than 200 million logged-in users watch this content on the platform every day, the company said. In the last 12 months alone, YouTube users have watched more than 50 billion hours of gaming content.

"From creators like elrubiusOMG who has hit live gaming records, to Ninja, the fastest growing creator in YouTube's history who helped usher in the era of Fortnite, or itsFunneh who became one of our biggest gaming creators by making us all laugh with Minecraft and Roblox videos, we thank you for building a strong gaming community on YouTube," Chen wrote. "We're committed to helping gaming creators succeed and look forward to seeing how you all continue to shape the future of gaming."

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade.

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes.

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app.

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth.

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light.

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

Read the latest from Angela Moscaritolo

Read full bio