Youtube Gaming, debuted in August, now allows users to stream live video and gameplay straight from their Android devices.
Users of the YouTube Gaming app need only press the "Go Live" button for the app to begin streaming the content of their device's screen to viewers, along with live video of the player gathered using the device's front-facing camera and inbuilt microphone.
In addition to allowing streamers to broadcast from their mobile devices, the update turns streaming from mobile devices in general into a one-touch action, essentially side-stepping the need for the more intricate tech skills streamers would previously have required to do so.
While the update from the Google-owned service facilitates streaming of any game on Google's Android operating system, iOS users are unlikely to leverage the same functionality, as Apple does not grant developers the same access to its operating system, specifically where screen-capture is concerned.
Streaming from iOS devices is likely to be limited to an app-by-app basis.
YouTube Gaming has also added subscription and donation features, allowing viewers to pay a monthly subscription of $3.99 (R52) to individual channels, or make once-off donations to individual channels, for additional perks offered by the streamer, such as access to exclusive chat sessions.
Google vs Amazon
The expansion of YouTube Gaming's services forms part of an obvious squaring-up to Amazon-owned Twitch, which has facilitated video game-streaming since 2011.
Twitch introduced mobile streaming options in early 2014.
While Twitch has long been the go-to platform for broadcasting and watching game streams, for example offering subscription features years before YouTube Gaming came into being, its viewership is vastly outnumbered by that of YouTube at large.
While users watched Twitch for an average of 16 billion minutes per month in 2014, YouTube viewers watched for an average of 144 billion minutes per month in the same year.
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