YouTube Gaming officially rolling out gifted subs like Twitch

Jacob Hale
Youtube mobile app and twitch logo

YouTube are starting to roll out a new gifted subscription feature, just like that which is so popular on Twitch.

While YouTube Gaming has made strides in the livestreaming space, with popular creators like Valkyrae, Ludwig and TimTheTatman among their ranks, they’re still some way off being as big as Twitch for livestreams.

The platform obviously lends itself mostly to video-on-demand (VOD) content, but has been growing out its live services over the years, and who better to take inspiration from than Twitch?

While they play catch-up to the Amazon-owned streaming service, YouTube looks set to introduce a feature that has made Twitch so popular for both broadcasters and viewers — gifted subs.

YouTube logo in cartoon design
YouTube are trying to catch up to Twitch in the streaming wars.

According to a tweet from the official YouTube Creators Japan account, gifted subs (or ‘memberships’ as they are known on YouTube) are rolling out to certain channels now, presumably ahead of a full launch.

“New Membership Gift Alpha Edition,” the tweet reads. “For creators using livestreaming and membership, this is a function that allows existing channel members to give membership rights to other viewers.”

They link out to their YouTube membership page, with FAQs on membership and benefits around it. Gifted memberships allow users to essentially cover membership costs for other viewers, giving them one month of membership for free.

This move comes a few months after it was first revealed that gifted subs and raids would be coming to YouTube, so it looks like the plan didn’t take too long to come to fruition.

Whether this is only currently rolling out for Japanese creators, or that they were simply the first to announce it, isn’t yet clear.

Related Topics

About The Author

Jacob is Dexerto’s UK Editor and Call of Duty esports specialist. With a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Creative Writing, he previously worked as an Editor at Ginx TV. Jacob was nominated for Journalist of the Year at the 2023 Esports Awards. Contact: jacob.hale@dexerto.com.