Last week, after earlier declaring war on live video game streaming site Twitch TV, Google launched its challenge to the reigning champion of social gaming in the form of a dedicated YouTube app called YouTube Gaming.

Here's what it offers, and how it hopes to replace Twitch in the burgeoning online world of live video game streaming.

The chief question posing the YouTube Gaming app is, why is this necessary? For a site (and apps) where you can find pretty much anything audio and/or visual, why the dedicated app for gaming? Is it just to put Twitch TV out of business, or does this app bring something valuable to your phone that the YouTube app can't do by itself?

First Impressions

When you first open up the YouTube Gaming app, you will be forgiven for wondering if this is anything more than a gaming filtered YouTube app. After picking a YouTube/Google account with which to sign in, the home screen looks remarkably like regular YouTube.

It has the same red color scheme, the same search field, "cast" button, and account icon as YouTube. And there's a list of recommended videos to scroll through, the only difference being that it's mostly live streams with a few spotlight playlists of pre-recorded streams, "let's play" videos, and video game-related content -- the type of tangential gaming-nerd videos you'd find on any number of (regular) YouTube channels.

Those channels, by the way, are listed to the right of the home button, where you'll find such popular standbys as Machinima, IGN, and Cinemassacre. Those channels that are live get listed at the top, however, which is where you start to get the impression why YouTube decided to create a dedicated app to its new gaming side.

On the other side of the home feed is "Games," where the hottest, latest games are listed by title (and there are a lot of them). Click on one, and you might find a live stream happening now, but you're definitely going to find a lot of related videos, recorded streams, and everything YouTube has to offer.

With both menus on either side of the home feed, you can favorite any game or channel quickly with the star icon, and that will translate to your regular YouTube account.

Interestingly, the core feature for YouTube Gaming's live action is a little de-emphasized. It's at the very top of the home feed: there's a small banner called "Live." Hitting the "more" button there takes you straight to all of YouTube's live streaming video game feeds, the heart of YouTube Gaming's challenge to the Twitch TV-dominated status quo.

Live Streaming

When you get into a live stream, you'll quickly find exactly how YouTube thinks it will best Twitch TV on its own territory: a digital DVR for gaming streams. Or, put simply, a pause button.

You can't pause live streams with Twitch TV, but with YouTube Gaming, it works just like any other live stream on YouTube.

Also, just like the standard app, you can cast your video to any number of compatible boxes or dongles with the same ease.

And as far as quality, it's YouTube-level, of course. Twitch TV has never run (too) badly for me, but YouTube Gaming streamed without a hitch as well, thanks to the vast infrastructure provided to YouTube by parent company Google (or Alphabet, to be exact).

And in a final challenge, or at least in competitively matching Twitch, YouTube Gaming offers something you don't get on the rest of the platform: Twitch-like live chat.

Popularity Contest 

Whether YouTube Gaming will take over the niche live streaming activity arguably made possible in the first place by Twitch TV remains to be seen, because like every major platform or service, it all comes down to popularity -- both with audiences and producers.

And right now YouTube Gaming, having just launched, is (understandably) pretty far behind Twitch TV. Yes, YouTube have PewDiePie, but Twitch has a broader and deeper selection live stream partners that run the full gamut, and the company is reminding every one of those partners about the exclusivity clause they all agreed to when they signed up for the Twitch TV partnership.

But YouTube could leapfrog Twitch TV's long-built catalogue of gamers quickly, especially by getting exclusive rights to stream major gaming events through the power of Google (i.e., Alphabet).

Whether it succeeds remains to be seen. Despite getting exclusive Internet broadcast deals, does anyone think of Yahoo Video in their everyday life?

Tap That App

Since it's free and available on iOS and Android, it's easily worth it to take a look at YouTube Gaming.

And even if you're not a huge fan of live streaming video games (or just don't "get it"), it's still worth the download and a tour, because as a standalone app, YouTube Gaming could easily be the first test vertical for a growing empire of live video offered by the largest video hosting website on the planet.

It may even be the first step towards a YouTube-dominated future of live TV -- but let's see if the gaming thing works out, first.