YouTube is set to further tighten its online gambling content restrictions with a new rule covering promotion of digital items with monetary value, including video game skins.
The new policy, which will take effect on Nov. 17, 2025, expands the video sharing platform’s enforcement to address “new trends, like gambling with digital goods,” according to the company’s Community Guidelines update announced on Oct. 28.
This latest step builds on YouTube’s March 2025 update, which already banned directing viewers to unapproved gambling websites through links, logos, or verbal mentions. The changes were made at the time to protect viewers, especially minors, from exposure to gambling-related content.
What this new YouTube Community Guidelines update means
Under the revised guidelines, YouTube will now prohibit content that directs viewers to gambling sites or applications involving items with monetary value, including digital goods such as video game skins, cosmetics, and NFTs (non-fungible tokens). These items, while originally designed for cosmetic use in games, have become part of an extensive third-party market where players buy, sell, and trade them for real money.
The platform’s enforcement will also expand to include social casino content, or casino-style games that don’t involve real-world money. While these videos won’t be banned outright, they will be age-restricted to protect younger audiences.
YouTube will also further tighten restrictions on graphic gaming content, particularly videos showing realistic violence against human-like characters. Such footage, especially when prolonged or prominently featured, will now face age restrictions as well.
Content uploaded before Nov. 17 that violates the new guidelines may still be age-restricted or removed but won’t result in a strike. Creators will have the option to edit or blur affected content before enforcement begins.
CS2 content creators likely to face the biggest impact
The new gambling restrictions are expected to remarkably affect Counter-Strike 2 content creators, as skin gambling and trading have long been a huge focus among them. Many YouTubers in the CS2 space create content around skin trading, case openings, and similar activities, all of which may now be classified under YouTube’s expanded definition of gambling with digital assets.
YouTube’s new policy update comes just a few days after Valve’s controversial Trade-Up Contract update for CS2, which enabled players to trade weapon skins directly for premium items such as knives and gloves, cosmetics that were once locked behind rare case openings or costly marketplace listings. The move sparked a massive market crash, cutting the total value of CS2 skins from about $6 billion to as low as $3 billion.
The upcoming YouTube policy changes mark another decisive move toward creating a safer and more responsible platform. With enforcement beginning soon, content creators, especially within the CS2 community, will need to adjust to stay compliant with the site’s evolving standards.
