The YouTube Gaming team has shared an official update on the status of the site’s incoming feature for streamers: Sponsorships. It’s almost identical to Twitch’s Subscription program, but since 2015 the Sponsorship Beta has only been available to a handful of YouTubers. But that’s opening up soon.

YouTube Gaming dev Barbara Mac shared the news on the site’s official subbreddit today. She said the reason for the delay in bringing this program public has been feedback from creators already in the Sponsorship Beta.

Mac stated, “The strongest message we heard from creators was that adding more value for viewers would be key to the success of Sponsorship success. The Sponsorship badge in live chat is simply not enough to retain Sponsors month after month.”

Sponsoring a YouTuber with this feature costs $3.99 a month and gets viewers two main perks: a Sponsor badge in live chats and access to Sponsor-only streams, if the creator chooses to host those.

To bring more value to viewers, the development team has been working on adding custom emojis to Sponsorships. These have always been a popular feature with Twitch Subscriptions, and YouTube Gaming knows their viewers need those sweet meme emojis as well. Creators in the Beta will be able to use custom emojis soon.

What’s more, Mac said Sponsorships will be fully launched this year. The requirements to apply for the program are the same as the current Super Chat prerequisites: 1,000+ subscribers and agreeing to the Content Commerce Addendum. Simple enough.

While the public launch is still a ways off, the YouTube Gaming team is opening up the Sponsorships Beta to a few more creators. Of course, you’ll have to meet the above requirements, but if you’re interested in testing out Sponsorships and custom emojis with your community, sign up here!

To get in on the conversation about YouTube Gaming Sponsorships, you can join the community’s Discord server.

We’ll be sure to fill you in when Sponsorships gets more details and an official launch date. Stay tuned!