YouTube Announce Ads-Free Subscription Service
Including original content from game YouTubers.
YouTube have announced a subscription service called YouTube Red. We've known it was on the way for a long time, but now it's official. In return for a monthly fee, you can watch YouTube videos without ads, save them offline, and gain access to a bunch of original content being produced by YouTube themselves in partnership with some folks you'll have heard of, including popular game-player/millionaire/generational hot take topic, PewDiePie.
The service will launch in the USA on October 28th and will cost $9.99 a month, with prices and launches in other regions to follow.
The original shows won't arrive till next year however, though many of them are described in detail in another YouTube post. They're not all games-related of course, but many are, including:
Scare PewDiePie: In this reality-adventure series from the creator and executive producers of The Walking Dead at Skybound Entertainment and Maker Studios, experience thrills, chills and laughter as PewDiePie encounters terrifying situations inspired by his favorite video games.
360 Project from MatPat of Game Theory: YouTube educator and pop culture expert MatPat from The Game Theorists invites the audience to come along for the ride in an innovative new series and 360 VR experience. In each episode Matt explores the real-life science behind popular video games by throwing gamers into the high-stakes scenarios they play through every day, from water jetpacks to haunted pizzerias.
Fight of the Living Dead: In an unprecedented social experiment reality show from Alpine Labs, Fight of the Living Dead takes popular YouTube talent and traps them in a frighteningly realistic zombie apocalypse. They must use their instincts and gaming skills to survive as they battle the elements for the ultimate prize of survival.
I use YouTube constantly, for music and for original videos. There is a lot of great stuff out there - subscribe to RPS why not - including much of it about games. I don't think ads inconvenience me enough to make me want to pay however, and the original content described above sounds like it's aimed more at teenagers than at me. Obviously this means it will fail, that modern society is doomed, and that I am sad about my inevitable death.
Here's a trailer:
