It’s the latest in a series of features cloned from Twitch.
Starting tomorrow, YouTube will allow both fans and creators to gift paid channel subscriptions. Today, a number of influential streamers tweeted the announcement, with many of them ecstatic about a new monetization tool. For a long time, gifted subs have been a popular feature on Twitch, YouTube Gaming’s main competitor. Many streamers see subscriptions as a simple way to generate revenue while also growing their community. However, YouTube has been slow to release the much-anticipated feature. Finally, YouTube Japan tested the waters earlier this year with free memberships for a select number of channels. Gifted memberships, which are still in beta, will now be available to all YouTube Gaming users in the US and UK.
Fans normally pay $4.99 per month for channel memberships, which allow them to access user badges, emotes and other exclusive content by their favorite creators. YouTube Gaming has released a number of other Twitch-like features this year, such as Live Redirects, which allow streamers to send fans to other streams or premieres.
While Twitch remains the biggest US-based platform for livestreaming, a number of its high-profile streamers have decamped in recent years for YouTube Gaming. And there may be more to follow. Bloomberg reported last month that Twitch partners will get a smaller cut of revenue from subscriptions (50 percent from 70 percent) under a new monetization model by the Amazon-owned platform. YouTube Gaming takes only 30 percent of a streamer’s revenue from channel subscriptions. While YouTube Gaming doesn’t have as big of an audience as Twitch, that could easily change if more popular Twitch creators leave for greener pastures.
