There has been a lot of excitement about YouTube Gaming (YTG) and how it will go head to head with Twitch. However, there is a lot more than live video game feeds, Let’s Plays and walkthroughs that will change with the summer release of YTG.
For one, creators of live streams will need to make a decision whether to go with Twitch or YTG. Who pays more? Who has more eyeballs? Who can help grow creators? Let’s discuss!!
With Twitch, you can actually sell stuff directly called a subscription. It’s $4.99 and gives you badges and access to some functionality. The creator gets $3 and Twitch gets $2. This is real money so that’s a plus. There is also advertising which is split but ad revenue is typically small.
The big caveat is that you have to be a Partner in order to access any revenue. Of the 1.5 millions broadcasters of the platform, only 11,000 are actually Partners, meaning the vast majority of creators are not making any money from Twitch directly.
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That sucks because YTG is going to pay right away for anyone with a channel, or at least that’s what we believe will happen since YouTube functions the same way. You may not get a check until you reach $100 or more in the account but at least you can start making coin from the get-go. YouTube does make their creators swear a blood oath to never divulge true income so it’s hard to know exact figures.
However, for those at the top of YouTube like Stampy, DanTDM, PewDiePie, CaptainSparklez, they can make millions. We just haven’t heard of that type of success from Twitch broadcasters, or gamecasters as the kids call it these days.
YouTube is clearly the big winner in terms of eyeballs coming in with more than a billion unique people per month. What blew my mind is that 1 in every 2 people on the Internet comes to YouTube. Twitch, meanwhile, has a very respectable 100 million users per month.
Still, in terms of pure visitors, having 10X more is tough to beat because that can translate into being able to pay creators more. Twitch has more headroom to grow but YTG could seriously stymie any plans Amazon has with its latest purchase.
Another thing about YouTube Gaming is that they will most likely open up YouTube Space for live streamers. These are the locations around the country where YouTube has massive studios that support Youtubers with big followings – 10,000 or more subscribers.
Google is setting up a whole generation of creators with the highest end of technical support and increasing their knowledge of production, effects, story-telling and more. If I had this opportunity in high school, I probably would have foregone college.
This leads me to me next reason why YouTube Gaming is going to change the world!
It turns out the many users of Twitch are chord cutters – those who are opting for no TV, AKA cable or satellite television, and instead getting their video consumption through Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and other platforms. If that is true, and I tend to think so, it means that YTG may attract even more chord cutters.
I believe that the gaming genre is just the start of the plans for YouTube. Why wouldn’t they do the same for news, sports, entertainment or any other topic? This makes regular old cable television look like a Yugo next to a shiny new Telsa. Bezos is already planning Amazon’s expansion of Twitch beyond games and it’s going well.
YouTube is going to make chord cutting an easy decision. When you go to Twitch, it’s cool to be able to pop into hundreds of relatively decent streams. The quality varies like any open platform, and YouTube won’t be sparred by it…which brings us back to YouTube Space that is cultivating raw talent.
Everyone really wins except companies like Comcast and DirecTV.
They are kinda screwed in this new upcoming world of democratized live and recording video creation. The cable companies are trying to replicate online viewing by offering à la carte packages but they really aren’t the good. Carriage fees and bad agreements sideline any real change in cable television.
I almost feel like this is the Blockbuster situation where for years people reluctantly accepted sh*tty service and late fees because they didn’t have a choice. Once there was a new choice, people left in droves. Blockbuster had no brand loyalty and couldn’t accept that change was inevitable. RIP BB. RIP CMCSA??
Cable companies have almost no loyalty and people resent all of the fees, lack of choices and horrible customer service. Do I sound bitter? Absolutely. I personally have had poor experiences with most of my providers, especially Comcast….and I’m not the only one. I believe they overcharge for what you get, don’t allow true competition and don’t offer services consumers want.
We are in store for a transformative moment with YTG, and it’s way beyond just games. Hundreds and thousands of people around the world will be able to make a living doing something they love. New technology like 3D virtual reality will intersect soon with live streaming.
This is a new era in media and entertainment.
I’m stoked! How about you?!
