YouTube announced the opening of a new tier in its partnerships program (YPP), enabling more eligible creators to activate fan-funding features known as Super Chat, Super Thanks, Super Stickers, and channel memberships across seven countries in the Middle East and North Africa including Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria, Kuwait, Lebanon and Oman, with access for more creators across from other countries in the region to follow soon.

These new fan-funding features offer a lower threshold that will allow more creators to make money doing what they love. Now, creators in Saudi Arabia that meet the below criteria will be able to activate fan-funding:

• 500 subscribers
• 3 public uploads in the last 90 days
• Either 3,000 watch hours in the last 365 days or 3 million Shorts views in the last 90 days
• No active Community Guidelines strike

Commenting on the expansion of YPP, Tarek Amin, YouTube’s Director in MENA said, “Creators are the lifeblood of YouTube and we’re committed to making it the most rewarding place for them — creatively, emotionally, and financially. We hope that this lower eligibility criteria will help support creators who are early in their YouTube journey, paving the way for a new generation of content creators”.

Community engagement and connecting with viewers is at the core of the new fan-funding features. Super Chat & Super Stickers will allow viewers to purchase brightly colored, pinned chat messages and stickers during live streams and premieres hosted by creators. Fans can support their favorite creators and stand out from the crowd, while creators can identify and connect with their top fans while accessing new revenue streams.

Super Thanks is an easy way to give back and show appreciation for creators and their content. Viewers have a fun way to show support and stand out in the comments section with colorful comments, while creators can feel the love for their content with every contribution and connect directly with fans.

As for channel memberships, these will allow viewers to join a creator’s channel through monthly payments and, give paying viewers members-only perks like badges, emojis, and other goods. Creators can access these new features through the ‘Earn’ tab in YouTube Studio where they will see if they’re eligible to apply for this new tier. Automatic emails will also be sent once a creator qualifies to apply. It can take up to four weeks for the feature to roll out to 100% of creators.

The YouTube Partnerships Program was one of the first revenue-sharing models on the internet. Creators with more than 1,000 subscribers and have 4,000 watch hours in the last 365 days (or 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days) will continue to have access to the revenue share from ads and YouTube Premium.