Streamers and content creators will soon be able to raid and host other streams on YouTube, according to a report.
Streamer news source Zach Bussey broke the news earlier this afternoon. The feature will be called Cross Channel Redirects and will be available to all eligible creators in the first week of May, according to Bussey. Creators must have over 1,000 subscribers to redirect viewers to other streams. It’s unclear exactly when creators will be able to access redirects, but Bussey’s report suggests it will be sometime this week.
The announcement comes after Bussey’s statement earlier this year that YouTube was working on raid and host features similar to Twitch’s. While YouTube’s Cross Channel Redirects are similar to Twitch raids and hosts, YouTube creators will need to allow other channels to redirect to theirs on an individual basis, meaning streamers will need to ask others to add them to a “live redirect list” to be able to host or raid them.
YouTube has been diligently adding many of the features that content creators and viewers have been requesting over the past few years, including gifted memberships (the equivalent of Twitch subscriptions) and additional creator tools. These new features have helped win over users from competing platforms like Twitch and Facebook Gaming. Big streamers like CouRage and Ludwig have lauded YouTube Gaming, explaining that they feel more comfortable and welcome at the site than they ever did at Twitch.
