Since first launching in 2015, YouTube Gaming has yet to achieve the same clout with livestreaming gamers as Amazon.com Inc.’s Twitch, but YouTube is looking to change that today with the public launch of Sponsorships, a new way for streamers to make money.

Today, YouTube announced that all eligible streamers can now apply for its Sponsorships program, which was previously only available to a select group of beta users. With Sponsorships, livestream fans can pay $4.99 for a monthly subscription to a single YouTube Gaming channel, and in return they receive a few minor benefits such as custom chat badges and emoji, access to the sponsors-only live chat mode, immunity from the delayed slow mode chat and more. Streamers earn a percentage of each subscription to their channel.

“Whether your channel is still new or you’ve been a creator for years, we want you to be successful, and sponsorships is part of a wider effort to help build your business on YouTube,” Barbara Macdonald, a product manager at YouTube, said in a blog post.

As part of the new Sponsorships program, YouTube will be doing away with its seldom-used paid channel feature, which allowed streamers to charge a fee 99 cents a month for users to view their channel. According to Macdonald, only 1 percent of users actually used this feature.

The Sponsorships program is not only open to all eligible YouTube Gaming streamers now, but it is also available to a beta group of nongamer YouTubers, so the program could soon extend across the entire platform.

Sponsorships may be new to YouTube, but they are not exactly new to game streaming. Twitch has offered is own $4.99-per-channel subscription for several years, and thanks to Amazon, the platform’s subscriptions have been bolstered by Amazon Prime members, who receive a free subscription to a channel of their choice each month.

If YouTube is intent on going head-to-head with Twitch, it may want to try a similar tactic with its existing YouTube Red service, which removes ads and includes access to Google Music. YouTube Red does not boast a user base anywhere near as large as Amazon Prime, but the more features and benefits Google ads to the service, the better chance it will have to draw in new subscribers.

Photo: YouTube Gaming