GDC 2013: YouTube announce new live-streaming API for developers

YouTube are planning to make it easier for developers to insert live streaming tools into their games.

YouTube are planning to make it easier for developers to insert live streaming tools into their games. The API, announced at GDC, will give game makers an easy way to provide their community with integrated tools to stream directly to YouTube, as well as insert breaks for ad placement. Thus they set the stage for the Great Blackout, when the internet will buckle under the weight of Farming Simulator 2014 streams.

YouTube have offered similar features in the past - Black Ops 2 currently features direct livestreaming - but a full API would open the service up to more developers, as well as enable streaming through iPhone and Android devices.

It's an interesting move, and one that seems directly targeted at the popularity of Twitch. Whether this API will offer enough flexibility to tempt existing streamers into an integrated platform remains to be seen. But an easy-to-use solution will no doubt prove attractive to developers looking for an easy way get their player-base sharing video content.

Thanks, The Verge.