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YouTube relaxes its violent videogames policy

Content creators won't have to worry about their videos being restricted.

Grand Theft Auto v

Content creators will no longer have to worry about videos being locked behind age-gates if they feature videogame violence, thanks to a new YouTube policy change. The significant change now means that violence in videogames will be treated in the same way as violence in films and TV shows.

The policy, which came into effect yesterday, will mean future gaming videos uploaded with scripted or simulated violence will be approved without an age-gate. This means these types of videos will be served to everyone, not just over 18s.

However, if the violence is deemed to be the sole focus of the video, or too extreme, YouTubers may still face age-gating. Regardless, it’s a huge win for gaming content creators who have struggled with demonetisation in the past.

“We know there’s a difference between real-world violence and scripted or simulated violence – such as what you see in movies, TV shows, or video games – so we want to make sure we’re enforcing our violent or graphic content policies consistently,” YouTube says in its announcement.

The policy also does not extend to advertisements. Videos featuring excessive simulated violence will still be questioned by YouTube, and in some cases demonetized.