YouTube looks to make some new changes when it comes to its live streaming policy. While there are plenty of options to run with for streaming your games and content to fans, you’ll want to make note of what changes are coming your way if you happen to use YouTube. Fortunately, you have some time to take note of these updates to the policy, as it’s not set to roll out until the end of next month.
Thanks to Insider Gaming, we’re learning that YouTube is changing its policy to ensure that anyone wishing to stream their content must be at least 16 years or older. That means if you’re under this age and are caught streaming content like gameplay, you’ll be in jeopardy of losing access to live chat and other features.
It’s worth pointing out that those of you who are featuring live streams with children from the ages of 13-15 will be required to feature an adult on the stream as well. Again, there is some time to get your streams in order and ensure that you’re following the guidelines provided by YouTube. The new policy won’t kick off until July 22, 2025.
“As of July 22, we are increasing the minimum age required to live stream to 16 years old. This means that creators will need to be 16 or older to be able to live stream on YouTube. Additionally, live streams featuring 13-15 year olds who are not visibly accompanied by an adult may have their live chat disabled and the account may temporarily lose access to live chat or other features. Please note that, in the future, we plan to take down these live streams and the account may temporarily lose its ability to live stream.”
Of course, if you’re looking to pick up streaming, then you will still need to hit a few requirements before your stream career can even begin. For instance, to even live stream on YouTube, you’ll need to have no live streaming restrictions in the past 90 days. Furthermore, your channel must be verified.
Right now, there’s no specific statement as to why Google is making these changes. However, as it stands, this new feature appears to focus solely on streaming content. Perhaps we’ll see a new policy update roll out for content uploaded to YouTube channels, but only time will tell on that front.
