YouTube announced on May 10 the launch of a new feature for its streaming service: the possibility of offering live viewers a subscription to the content creator’s YouTube channel. This novelty is part of the video platform’s desire to compete with Twitch, which seems unbeatable.
Subgifts land on YouTube
It will now be possible to offer, in the same way as on Twitch since 2017, subscriptions to a streamer’s YouTube channel to other viewers of a live stream. The functionality is, for the moment, reserved for a few creators of content on the platform and will be open to a greater number in the coming months. It is only accessible via a web browser, on a computer. YouTube plans to add the ability to offer subscriptions on mobile when it officially launches.
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The subgifts, or in good French the “free subscriptions” are similar to the classic subscriptions present since 2018 on the platform to financially support the channels of content creators. Namely, 1 month of access to benefits intended for subscribers such as badges rewarding their loyalty, personalized emojis, etc. “ With subscription gifts, members of a channel can buy a certain number of subscriptions [5, 10, 20] in a single purchase that YouTube will “offer” to other live viewers ”explains YouTube in his press release.
Preview of the interface of this new feature. Picture: YouTube.
An expected addition
According to YouTube, the addition of this feature was highly anticipated by its content creators, ” We know you’ve been eagerly awaiting information on the subscription gift system since we told you about our plans last year. »
These gifts are distributed according to the participation of the spectators in the life of the stream. The more a user interacts with the channel, the more likely they are to receive a subgift offered by another viewer. People who have received a free subscription will be notified by private message and email. No additional costs will be requested from them. As for the streamers, they will receive the same amount as during a classic subscription with a usual distribution of 70% of the income for the creator and 30% for YouTube.
After the Super Thanks, the Super Chat and the Super Stickers, the functionality completes those already implemented by YouTube to complete its streaming service. Google’s video service no longer hides from taking over the functions of its competitor and has in mind to win against Amazon. In January 2020, YouTube had already poached three talents from its competitor by having them sign an exclusive contract. The streaming platform war is not about to end.