YouTube Gaming introduces Twitch like subscription

Since it was launched in 2015, YouTube Gaming hasn't quite achieved the status as Amazon's Twitch. But now things are going to change since YouTube is going to launch Sponsorships, a new way to earn extra money on your channel and better help you connect with your fans.

Fans can pay, $5 a month to support their favorite channels and in return, they will unlock custom badges, emojis, and potentially special chat rooms just for Sponsors and immunity from the slow mode. Streamers earn a percentage of each subscription to their channel.

As a gamer’s popularity grows and the number of sponsors increases, more custom emoji will be unlocked. These can then be uploaded and used in real-time as channels hit their sponsorship milestones, says YouTube. The new subscription feature is very similar to Twitch.

“Whether your channel is still new or you’ve been a creator for years, we want you to be successful, and sponsorships is part of a wider effort to help build your business on YouTube,” Barbara Macdonald, a product manager at YouTube, said in a blog post.

The Sponsorships program is not only open to all eligible YouTube Gaming streamers now, but it is also available to a beta group of nongamer YouTubers, so the program could soon extend across the entire platform.