Good morning. It’s no secret that Roblox has gained steam, with creators like Karl Jacobs and Typical Gamer joining the game in the last year. But just how big is it? Roblox recently shared that it contributed $1.2 billion to the US GDP between 2017 and 2023. Pretty impressive for a single gaming platform.

P.S. We’re at VidSummit in Dallas for the next couple of days. If you’re here, we’d love to meet you. Hit reply and we’ll let you know where we’re hanging out.

— Hannah Doyle & Nate Graber-Lipperman

Why YouTube Streamers Are Returning to Twitch

It’s been nearly four years since YouTube began investing in gaming streamers, inking splashy exclusive contracts with creators including LilyPichu, DrLupo, and TimTheTatman. Now that those periods of exclusivity have ended…many of the streamers are returning to Twitch.

Why? In short, for 1) more views and 2) more money. 

For example: TimTheTatman, who’s been back on Twitch for less than a week after a three-year deal with YouTube Gaming ended, said in a stream on Sunday that he gained 6,500 paid Twitch subs in one day—more than half the YouTube memberships he accumulated during his deal with the platform.

Does that make YouTube streaming a bust? Jury’s still out.

• “The main critique of YouTube streaming since its inception has been how hard it is to navigate and how difficult it is to find streams in the first place, and they’ve done little to improve that,” MoistCr1TiKaL said in a video. 

• “In the next couple years, live streaming will likely be bigger than it was during Covid, and YouTube is part of the reason why it’s growing. Twitch not so much,” Ludwig said in a video, referencing YouTube gaining market share for livestream viewership while Twitch has been stagnant. 

Big picture: The era of exclusive contracts has led many creators to multi-stream—an effective strategy for promoting events and ramping up growth.  

“I think the biggest factor is bargaining power. As streamers and entrepreneurs, they can’t continue to stream on YouTube for free after YouTube just gave them a bag for two years to do it,” gaming creator Wynnsantiy said in a video comment. 

But? “The next Kai Cenat won’t be a multi-streamer,” Ludwig said on X. “The benefit of overall viewership isn’t worth fracturing the audience.”

Unpacking Brazil’s Decision to Ban X

On Monday, a Brazilian Supreme Court panel upheld a decision to ban X (formerly Twitter) in Brazil, one of the social media platform’s biggest markets.

Wait, what? The court opened an investigation into X owner Elon Musk in April.

• They alleged that Musk used a system of people known as “digital militias” to threaten and spread disinformation about Supreme Court justices.

• When X missed a deadline to name a legal representative in Brazil last week, the court imposed the nationwide ban.

Why it matters: 40 million Brazilians (about one-fifth of the country’s population) use X at least once a month, according to market research firm Emarketer. Losing those users is critical for X, where advertising revenue continues to decrease—down 24% year-over-year during the first half of 2024. 

Looking ahead: Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes said he’ll lift the suspension once X complies with the court’s orders. In the meantime, competing platform Bluesky said it added 200,000 new users from Brazil last week.

Sponsored by Spotter

Spotter’s New AI Tool Lands Creators 49% Higher Views

Spotter just launched Spotter Studio, an AI-powered brainstorm partner and project planner that learns from your YouTube channel to help you develop higher-performing titles and thumbnails. The software supercharges your ideation process and manages your workflow all the way to pressing publish. 

We took part in the beta test along with creators like MrBeast, Dude Perfect, Kinigra Deon, Rebecca Zamolo, Jordan Matter, and Hayden Hillier-Smith. Creators in the beta test found that videos made with Spotter Studio got 49% more views in the first seven days than videos made without it.

How it works: You can start your brainstorm with a prompt, or just click “brainstorm.” Spotter Studio will give you ideas specifically tailored to your channel based on your highest-performing videos and videos in your category. 

Spotter Studio was developed over the past 2 years through consulting with hundreds of top creators (including us), and we can say that it’s truly a first-of-its-kind software built specifically for YouTube creators.

To be a creator is to be in the business of ideas, and Spotter Studio makes us better at our job. 

Check it out for yourself →  try Spotter Studio free for 30 days as a first-time customer. 

— Colin & Samir

Long Videos Become the Norm on YouTube

YouTube creators are sharing an increasing number of videos with 20+ minute run times, according to data from analytics tool Tubular Labs.

• Creators uploaded 1.3 million videos longer than 20 minutes in July 2022.

• In June 2024? It was up to 8.5 million.

Zoom out: In July, YouTube became the first streaming platform to surpass 10% of total TV usage. That viewership trend is likely playing a role in the growing popularity of longer videos.

👀 Creator Moves

• The Publish Press is hiring a general manager to help take our company to the next level.

• Answer In Progress is looking for a production and operations coordinator to run their content schedule and merchandising verticals.

• Hello Hayes is hiring a social media producer to pitch, script, and produce photo and video content.

Looking to bring on new team members? You can post opportunities on our (free) job board here.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Instagram adds comments to Stories.

• Ready to get paid to explore the world with your community, without the hassle of planning? Go with TrovaTrip.*

• Haliey Welch is launching a podcast, Talk Tuah, under Jake Paul’s Betr media company.

• JerryRigEverything releases a new wheelchair called The Big Rig.

• Help Colin and Samir improve Creator Startup by taking this quick survey.

• Snap is putting ads in the Chat tab.

• Wasserman, a top talent representation firm, acquires creator management company Long Haul.

_{*This is sponsored advertising content.}