YouTube is set to launch it’s video game streaming and watching service, YouTube Gaming, today.

Google tried to buy Twitch. You may or may not remember that fact, but the potential sale almost went down right around this time last year. In fact, as Ars Technica points out, we’re literally days after the one year anniversary of Amazon buying Twitch.

Now, Twitch is about to have its first genuinely viable source of competition in the streaming world. YouTube Gaming will go live today. Heck, it might already be live by the time you’re reading this story. You’ll find it at gaming.youtube.com, or you can download the app on iOS or Android.

There are some key things that may hinder YouTube from gaining momentum instantly. First, the top streamers on Twitch are monetized. They have subscribers, contracts and a flow of cash. Leaving puts an end to that, and YouTube hasn’t announced a subscription program like the Twitch Partner one.

Also, YouTube’s Content ID stuff is in place. If a streamer is broadcasting while playing a copyrighted song, they’ll get a live warning. If the song stays on, the stream will be straight up blocked. On Twitch, the stream would continue while the archive would be muted. Here, the stream will just end.

Those two issues seem rather huge to me, so we’ll see how this new platform shakes out.

Will you give YouTube Gaming a shot?