YouTubers Are Making A Fortune From Video Games You've Never Heard Of

People love watching video games. 

They love watching people review them, they love watching people play them and sometimes they even love watching people take them out of their box. Billions of them.

It shouldn't come as a surprise then that the video game vlogging community of YouTube's Gaming channel are starting to bring in some serious cash: people watch their videos; YouTube sticks some ads in there; the creatives make the some money and everyone is happy.

But what is surprising is how bold some of those YouTubers are in seeking out additional revenue streams - reportedly charging as much as $22,000 (£14,250) to even so much as mention a game and feature a link to it.

Independent video game designer Ben Tester recently took to Reddit with an eyebrow-raising claim concerning an unnamed YouTuber's cash-for-coverage request:

There are several sticky issues for indie developers like Tester for promotions such as this: foremost, will his game actually gain a sales boost should it be covered by a YouTuber? And secondly, would the YouTuber have been up-front about the promotion to their viewers? There are a strict set of policies that YouTubers must follow if they're going to make money promoting material, with fines in place if it's felt that 'advertorial' content isn't flagged up.

Do you watch video game channels on YouTube? Does coverage of little-known independent titles sway you in buying them? Do you think YouTubers should be able to charge to promote content? Let us know below.

[Via: Wired.co.uk]