YouTube quietly announces a big change that sucks for creators
Your success on YouTube will be celebrated in a smaller way soon
🤏 YouTube Play Buttons are the latest product to suffer from shrinkflation
😕 The awards are now 30% smaller than before
🎥 Creators believe the cost-cutting change was made due to YouTube Shorts
📈 YouTube Shorts has allowed more users than ever to hit subscriber milestones
One of the coolest things about hitting certain milestones on YouTube is receiving a physical silver or gold Play Button plaque to mark your success.
Users who reach 100,000 subscribers receive a silver Play Button, while those who hit the impressive one million subscribers mark receive a gold variant of the coveted award.
You’ll have seen these awards proudly presented in the background of most creators’ videos, and soccer player Christiano Ronaldo even showed off his gold Play Button award to his family in a recent video. The Portuguese player achieved one million subscribers in just 90 minutes of his channel going live.
However, any creator lucky enough to hit this goal will receive an undoubtedly worse version of YouTube’s iconic Play Button, as it’s been shrunk significantly and will be 30% smaller overall.
YouTube announced the change on its help page saying, “More creators than ever before are achieving impressive milestones on YouTube and seeing their passion pay off with Creator Awards. Starting in August 2024, we’re introducing a new, lighter-sized award. Don’t worry, the quality and design is staying the same, along with the prestige and recognition that you deserve.”
Creators believe the smaller awards have been made due to the rise of YouTube Shorts, which has allowed thousands more people to gain subscribers and, in turn, a Play Button award.
In a world where consumers seem to be paying more and getting less in return, making the YouTube Play Button smaller was probably inevitable but it still sucks nonetheless.
One good thing is that creators who earned a proper, original-sized Play Button will cherish it even more.
Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.