YouTube will award $100,000 to the grand-prize winner of a new global talent show to find the next breakout gaming creator, hosted by U.K. YouTube gaming creator Ali-A.
YouTube’s uTure contest kicks off Saturday with a call for entries and the show will debut in June, letting aspiring digital stars compete in weekly challenges to win the top prize. The project demonstrates that YouTube, even after shuttering its original content group, wants to keep a hand in producing certain special-event programming.
The uTure competition is the brainchild of Ali-A (Alastair Aiken), who has more than 25 million subscribers across his YouTube channels and specializes in gameplay videos of “Fortnite” and other titles. Judges for the contest will include Ali-A alongside Australian YouTuber Lachlan and the U.S.’s LilSimsie.
“YouTube is home to tens of thousands of brilliant gaming creators who haven’t yet been discovered,” Ali-A said in a statement provided by YouTube. “It’s my hope that uTure will give all these creative individuals their moment to shine and learn from gaming veterans in the space in front of YouTube’s millions-strong global audience.”
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Entries for uTure (rhymes with “future”) open Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. Those must be in English and submitted as a YouTube Short, the platform’s TikTok-style vertical video format, of up to 60 seconds. Applicants must upload their video to YouTube Shorts using the hashtag #uTureShow, then submit it to uture.show for a chance to be featured on the show. Submissions close May 8.
In June, the top 10 applicants selected from the entries will face weekly content-creation challenges over the course of nine weeks, hosted on a new, dedicated uTure channel on YouTube. Episodes will air twice a week (on Wednesdays and Saturdays), each showcasing a new challenge. Judges will score each contestant as well as provide feedback.
Viewers will be able to vote for their favorite contestants at the uture.show website. However, the decision about who advances to the next round — and who ultimately wins the whole thing — will ultimately be at the discretion of Ali-A and the other judges.
“We’re committed to nurturing unique and diverse talent by providing opportunities on an open platform with a truly global reach,” said Lester Chen, global head of gaming creators at YouTube. “Many of our brightest stars find ways to use gaming as a vehicle for storytelling and creative expression.”
(Pictured above: Ali-A)
