About 2 months ago, YouTube announced that its content moderation policies would change in the last days of December. This change, which was first announced in November 2022, especially affected YouTubers who produce content in the field of gaming. YouTubers began to express that they experienced a decrease in their content income due to this change.
In fact, the Advertiser Friendly Guidelines encourages creators to produce cleaner content, while more transparently presenting the criteria in the monetization process of videos. The guide shares detailed information with creators about how videos that contain inappropriate language or violence will no longer be monetized.
He also shares detailed tips on monetizing YouTube gaming videos. The profanity, obscene content, and violent elements are clearly indicated in the game content that should not be used within the scope of the tips. In this context, the games played by content producers are also scrutinized. For example, the presence of disturbing violent game images in the first 8 to 15 seconds of the video or its thumbnail is defined as one of the situations that limits or prevents the ad revenue from the videos .
However, with these principles, YouTube indirectly inhibits the promotion of violent games. For example, most creators state that content featuring the sci-fi and horror-themed The Callisto Protocol game is not considered eligible for monetization.
Moreover, these newly published principles also cover past content. Many gaming YouTubers are facing a serious income drop. Gaming YouTubers can avoid playing violent games from now on.
This means that YouTube, which is one of the important marketing channels for game manufacturers, will lose its priority for game companies. Another option for game companies is to reduce the dose of violence in the games they produce. Game companies can turn to YouTube’s rival platforms instead of reducing the dose of violence in games.
