Streamers on YouTube will be granted new ways to engage with fans.
YouTube Gaming, the wing of YouTube that manages and highlights gaming videos and live streams, is implementing a new paid sponsorship system to provide another revenue stream to its users. As outlined in a post on the YouTube Creators blog, from 19 September 2017 viewers will be able to pay $4.99 to their favourite creators to gain access to perks such as badges for live chat and custom emoji designed by the creators. They also get access to dedicated live-chats and immunity from “slow mode”, the tool that stops viewers spamming chats with overwhelming numbers of messages.
These new features are similar to those seen on Twitch, another popular streaming service, which has had features like sponsorships, subscriptions, and custom chat options for some time. Many creators, particularly in the gaming community, have made the move to Twitch and other services in the past year as a more reliable source of income, with creators such as Daniel Hardcastle drawing attention to falling ad revenues and the increasing necessity of new mediums to make ends meet:
Patreon and Twitch will become the main revenue streams. YouTube's new ad rules means I'll basically working for free there. https://t.co/YTGL2DPhAC
— Daniel Hardcastle (@DanNerdCubed) August 29, 2017
More information can be found on the YouTube Creators Blog and the YouTube Gaming website.
Want more?
Read about how YouTubers are making money in the face of falling ad revenues in our chats with Sam Saffold-Geri, Jake Edwards, and Leena Normington, or see how Hannah Rutherford is using Twitch to combat the “adpocalypse”.
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