Announcing our biggest updates to YouTube Live

Helping you get started

We heard that getting started can be daunting, so we built an option to practice before going live — to give creators a way to test their setup with no risk. Try out and experiment with new tools and go live to the public whenever you are ready.

And, for those who want to try livestreaming, but don’t know what to do once they’re there, we’re introducing Playables on Live. Playables were introduced last year as a fun, interactive way to experience YouTube — with lightweight, entertaining games like Angry Birds Showdown, Words of Wonders, Cut the Rope, Tomb of the Mask, and Trivia Crack. Now, creators can play from this library of 75+ games while interacting with their audience through chat, and monetize the stream like any other broadcast.

Prioritizing discoverability

To solve for discoverability and growth, we’re introducing three new features.

First, we’re adding a way to reach viewers on every screen by streaming across formats. Soon, creators will be able to broadcast in both horizontal and vertical formats simultaneously, with a single unified chat room to bring the entire community together in one seamless experience.

Building on a successful pilot, we're expanding the ability to react live to content on YouTube, allowing anyone to start a vertical livestream on mobile and react to other live events—or even other creators—who are currently live. It turns any stream into a shared event, letting creators of all sizes share commentary, analysis, and real time reactions.

Finally, the engagement doesn’t have to stop when you go offline. AI-powered highlights turn live content into lasting content. It finds the most compelling moments from the livestream and automatically creates ready-to-share Shorts.

Building new monetization tools

A core part of supporting creators is helping them earn a living from their work, and we know that creators are often hesitant to run ads that interrupt key moments on their streams. The new side-by-side ads are a less intrusive format for viewers, while helping creators get paid without pulling their audience away.

Beyond ads, we’re giving more ways to offer value to creators’ biggest supporters. We're rolling out a new feature that allows channel membership creators to easily transition from public to members-only livestreams, without disruption. This makes it easy to create premium, members-only content, while strengthening your community and attracting new paid members.

For more details on when these features will be available, check out our community post.