Creator Awards

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An outdated image of the three out of the five YouTube Play Button Awards. From left to right are the Silver, Diamond, and Golden Play Buttons.

Creator Awards (more commonly known as Play Buttons, or also Creator Rewards) are rewards for YouTubers and content creators reaching a milestone of subscribers, as being recognized by YouTube. These are distinct from the YouTube Awards, which were intended to recognize the best quality videos.

The Play Buttons are based on a channel's subscriber count, but are awarded at the sole discretion of YouTube – each channel is reviewed before an award is issued, to ensure the channel follows YouTube's community guidelines.

Every creator award is accompanied by a printed letter, with the exception of Gold and Silver letters. All of them are signed by the CEO of YouTube, with the current one since 2023 being Neal Mohan (preceded by Susan Wojcicki). A card of manufacture is also packaged along with the parcel.

Awards

When a verified YouTuber reaches a specific milestone and is deemed eligible for a YouTube Creator Reward, they are awarded a relatively flat trophy in a metal casing with glass panelling and a YouTube play button symbol. The reward also features the creator's channel name embossed on it, much like a "Thank You" reward. The trophies are of different sizes: each button and plaque gets progressively bigger when the channel has reached a higher amount of subscribers. The metal and material which is used to create the Play Button reward also changes for each milestone.

Play Buttons

There are currently seven different Play Buttons for each milestone that you can get:

• The Silver Play Button earned at 100,000 subscribers, made out of 92% nickel, 5% carbon, and 2.5% zinc, with traces of other metals.
• The Golden Play Button earned at 1 million subscribers, made out of gold-plated brass.
• The Diamond Play Button at 10 million subscribers, made out of silver-plated metal inset with a large piece of colourless crystal. This award is in the shape of a play button triangle, excluding the metal casing.
• The Custom Play Button originally earned at 50 million subscribers. As its name suggests, the play button is custom, and is made out of the channel's logo with other features put on it. Later on, custom awards for 20 million and 200 million subscribers would be released, indicating that the custom play button is for random milestones.
  • 8 channels have shown the 50 million Custom Play Button reward on video, those of which include PewDiePie, T-Series, Canal KondZilla, BLACKPINK, Pinkfong, Aaj Tak, ChuChu TV, and Movieclips.
  • 4 channels have shown the 20 million subscriber custom award, including America's Got Talent, National Geographic, Marvel Entertainment, and Britain's Got Talent.
  • 2 channels have shown the 200 million subscriber award, T-Series, and MrBeast.
• The Red Diamond Play Button earned at 100 million subscribers, made out of silver-plated metal inset with a large piece of dark red crystal. Currently, T-Series, MrBeast, Cocomelon - Nursery Rhymes, ✿ Kids Diana Show, Vlad and Niki, SET India, Like Nastya, PewDiePie, Zee Music Company and WWE are the only 10 YouTube channels who have received this award (as of April 2024)
  • The Red Diamond Play Button that belongs to the owners of Cocomelon was displayed for a few months at the Musée Baccarat museum in Paris, France. This award was given to the owners of Cocomelon when they became the third YouTube channel to surpass 100 million subscribers in 2020, after T-Series and PewDiePie.
  • MrBeast became the fifth YouTuber to own a Red Diamond Play Button after hitting 100 million subscribers on July 28, 2022. However, he received his Red Diamond Play Button shortly before in order to create his video of him hitting 100 million subscribers. He had approximately 96 to 97 million subscribers at the time he received this play button.
  • WWE is the tenth and, as of April 2024, currently the most recent YouTuber to own a Red Diamond Play Button, on March 8, 2024. The content manager of WWE (Triple H) made an unboxing video showcasing a brief description of their reward for reaching 100 million subscribers.

Silver Play Button (with JackSucksAtLife's name).

Golden Play Button (with JackSucksAtLife's name).

The old diamond Play Button.

Red Diamond Play Button.

Additional Awards

Gold And Silver Letter

JackSucksAtLife showing off the new Gold and Silver Letter.

Recently, YouTube has introduced 2 new awards that are available for purchase on the Society Awards website after a creator has surpassed either 100,000 or 1 million subscribers. These new awards are the Gold and Silver Letter Awards, which consist of a sheet of metal (either silver or gold in color) that have the text of the 100,000 or 1-million-subscriber letter stamped on them, put on a piece of acrylic plastic.

Diamond Team Award

The Diamond Team Award is a play button that is only given to the people who have worked hard on a channel that reaches 10 million subscribers. Originally, it had a stand with the triangle on the diamond play button, with the name of the channel in the text "Congratulations on passing 10 million subscribers" above the YouTube logo. The new design of the play button is slightly different and shows the YouTube logo with the diamond triangle in the middle.

The old design of the Diamond Team Award (from Morgz Mum).

The new design of the Diamond Team Award (from JackSucksAtLife).

The new design without the text.

1 million likes on a comment award

YouTube sent SethEverman a plaque for being the first YouTube user to get 1 million likes on a YouTube comment. His comment was "i'm the bald guy", on Billie Eilish's "bad guy" (2019). The comment currently has over 3 million likes right now. However, many users claim it had disappeared since it is not visible in the music video's comment section.

Seth's award for the most likes in a comment.

Icon Awards

The Icon Awards were a type of award that was announced in 2020. It came with two types, Silver and Gold, that were most likely made out of wood. The silver cost $225, and the gold cost $425. They were never sold until 2024.

Diamond Plaque

The Diamond Plaque is another cancelled award, which is a 17-inch plaque that is the same size as the Golden Play Button, except white, and the triangle is replaced with the diamond from the Diamond Play Button.

History

At VidCon 2012's Industry Day event, YouTube executive Tim Shey introduced the Golden Play Button, which was to be awarded to creators who have had their channels surpass 1 million subscribers. At the time of the announcement, 78 channels qualified for the award. Shey also announced that channels with over 100,000 subscribers would receive a $500 gift card and a DSLR camera case. Channels with over 100,000 subscribers would later be eligible to receive a Silver Play Button.

Three years later, at VidCon 2015, YouTube's Vice President of Product Management Matthew Glotzbach announced the introduction of the Diamond Play Button. At the time of this award introduction, 35 channels qualified for it.

PewDiePie holding his Custom Play Button after surpassing 50 million subscribers.

On December 19, 2016, PewDiePie received the first-ever Custom (Ruby) Play Button, along with several mini-awards. It is in the shape of PewDiePie's brofist channel logo and is a translucent red.

On September 6, 2019, YouTube introduced the Red Diamond Play Button through a tweet containing a video of a timelapse of the making of the button with Baccarat's crystal work. There are currently only four YouTube channels that have received this Play Button which are, in chronological order: T-Series, PewDiePie, Cocomelon, and SET India.

In 2024, it was announced that the Play Buttons would receive a new design that's lighter but retains the same quality as the previous versions.

Indian music label T-Series holding their Red Diamond Play Button after becoming the first-ever YouTube channel to have surpassed 100 million subscribers.

PewDiePie holding his Red Diamond Play Button after surpassing 100 million subscribers.

The chest of the Red Diamond Play Button (picture taken by PewDiePie).

Former Designs

As of March 1, 2017, YouTube redesigned its play buttons, as well as their build. This includes the Silver and Golden Play Buttons with a much sleeker look. For instance, the old versions of the Silver and Golden Play Buttons were made of a nickel-plated cupronickel alloy and featured a glass panel with a metal framework.

Former Play Button designs.

The old version of the Silver Play Button that was used before 2024.

The old version of the Silver Play Button that has the framework.

The new version of the Silver Play Button, which doesn't have the frame and is flatter than the original version.

The old version of the Golden Play Button.

The old version of the Golden Play Button, which is in the old design as the new Silver Play Button, except bigger and heavier.

A third version of the Golden Play Button.

It is currently unsure whether the Custom Play Button will be redesigned completely to fit the creator's logo (as seen in PewDiePie's), or if it will feature a similar triangular base with crystal engraving like (T-Series') from that point on.

Fan-Made Custom Play Buttons

Kwebbelkop's Orange Play Button.

Often users like to get a bit crafty with their Play Buttons, either to match their brand or to simply forge something for viewership. These variations are fake and unrecognized by YouTube. Example of this include:

• Kwebbelkop's DIY (Do-It-Yourself) 3D-printed and 3-million-subscribers Orange Play Buttons.
• PressTube, who made a glowing blue play button, as well as one made out of gold.
• Life of Boris, who stitched his Leather Play Button.
• colinfurze
• How To Make Everything, who made his play button using obsidian, gold, silver, copper, penny bronze, and clear glass; materials from 6 of his most popular videos.
• BrainfooTV, who cast miniature play button using real silver, gold, and diamond bullion.
• Davie504, who made his Gold and Diamond Play Buttons into bass guitars.
• Mad Stuff With Rob, who created an "Emerald Play Button" for himself.
• JackSucksAtLife, who made his own "profile picture" award, as well as drawing some cool designs on his main channel silver play button to hide a dent in it he made when he accidentally bumped his green screen on it.
• Kristian PH, who created his own DIY 10,000-subscriber Play Button for himself.
• Ryguyrocky, who made a custom red, white, and black hydro dipped gold play button for his friend, JackSucksAtLife.
• Timeworks, who made the 500,000-subscriber Obsidian Play Button and sent it to JackSucksAtLife.
• Robo Fin, who drew a Tin Play Button and the Sapphire Play Button for 50 and 100 subscribers respectively, for themself.
• Daniel Krafft, who made custom 50 and 100-million-subscriber buttons for MrBeast.
• Matthew Beem, who created another custom 100-million-subscriber Play Button for MrBeast.
• Puicup, who created the "Amythest Play Button" for Puicup hitting 100 subscribers and he created the "Dark Play Button" for Declan Scott hitting 100 subscribers

MadStuffWithRob's Emerald Play Button.

JackSucksAtLife's Profile Picture Play Button.

Daniel Krafft's Play Button for MrBeast.

Puicup's Amythest Play Button.

Most Awards

TheSoul Publishing Play Button Wall.

Currently, TheSoul Publishing - the company behind channels 5-Minute Crafts and BRIGHT SIDE - has the most Creator Awards, as a brand with 10 diamond play buttons and 66 gold play buttons. MrBeast is the individual YouTuber that has the most play buttons, with at least 31 creator awards from YouTube, including two custom-made 50-million-subscriber awards and many fake awards he bought off of Ebay many years ago. JackSucksAtLife is notable for being the individual YouTuber that has the second-most play buttons, behind MrBeast. He currently has 22 play buttons which include:

• A Golden and Diamond Play Button he tricked YouTube into giving him.
• An award from Wikitubia itself.
  • JackSucksAtLife is also in the Hall of Fame of Wikitubia.
• A custom-made 500,000-subscriber award.
• 2 custom-made gold play buttons.
• A fake Diamond and Red Diamond Play Button.
• PewDiePie's Red Diamond Play Button, along with the suitcase it was contained in.
• A custom 1-billion-views award that he bought from the Society Awards website.
• MrBeast's 100 Million Diamond Play Button
• Many other fake awards.

At some time around August 1, 2020, Jack found an exploit where you can buy YouTube play buttons, and he managed to get a Diamond Play Button, despite having only 1.3 million subscribers at the time, as the play button is earned at 10 million subscribers. His official YouTube awards include:

• His original silver award he received in 2014, when his channel was called JackSucksAtMinecraft.
• His updated silver awards for his following channels:
  • JackSucksAtLife
  • JackSucksAtStuff
  • Jack Massey Welsh
  • JackSucksAtGeography
  • turd boi420
  • JackSucksAtPopUpPirate
  • JacksEpicYoutubeChannelFullOfFunTimesAndFunHiRickX
  • JACKSEPICYOUTUBECHANNELFULLOFFUNTIMESANDFUNHIRICKXHASNOTHINGONMEIAMTHESUPERIORCHANNELIHAVEMORECHARACTERSTHANALLOFJACKSYOUTUBECHANNELSCOMBINEDHAHAHAHAIHAVEMORECHARACTERSTHANJACKSUCKSATLIFEJACKSUCKSATSTUFFJACKMASSEYWELSHJACKSUCKSATGEOGRAPHYJACKSUCKSATCLIPSSAMSMELLSOFAPRICOTSJACKSUCKSATPOPUPPIRATEETCETCIMAGINETHISONAPLAYBUTTONJESUSCHRISTBTWPLEASESUBSCRIBETHANKYOUVERYMUCHHIRICKXxXxXX
  • Geography Stuff 🌎
  • SamSmellsOfApricots (his old channel)
• A gold award for his main channel, "JackSucksAtLife".
  • and JackSucksAtStuff
  • and JackSucksAtGeography
  • and JackSucksAtEspañol
• A gold award that YouTuber Skeppy bought for Jack that has Skeppy's name on it.
• A diamond award that has YouTuber KSI's name on it.
• A gold and silver letter, which are relatively new additions to the YouTube Creator Award Library.

Old Awards

WikiGameGuides' Director's Chair.

Camera Bag.

YouTube originally gave out either a Director's Chair or a Camera Bag for when a channel had reached the 100,000-subscriber-milestone, each accompanied by a $50 gift card from YouTube. Each item was printed with the most popular classic YouTube videos in a sort of compilation print. CrazyRussianHacker was one of the first people who received the camera bag, where he showed it in one of his videos. Prior to 2020, there was only one video showcasing the Director's Chair, which was uploaded by the YouTuber WikiGameGuides, on August 12, 2013. The video was part of his "Mailbag Monday" series.

Every YouTuber who reached the 100,000-subscriber milestone was offered either the Director's Chair or the Camera Bag, and in some cases, both. Almost no one chose the Director's Chair, with the exception of WikiGameGuides and another YouTuber named Tama Hero. These two are the only known YouTubers to have redeemed the Director's Chair and actually receive them, and Tama Hero received two.

On November 10 2020, JackSucksAtLife posted a video claiming he found the rarest YouTube Creator Award ever. He purchased the second of the two Director's Chairs from Tama, who was also sent a Camera Bag. The chair alone cost Jack $200 USD, which equates to £150 Great British Pounds and costed £50 to import from the United States. The Director's Chair was still in the box, while the whereabouts of Tama's other Director's Chair are unknown. While the Director's Chair isn't a YouTube Play Button, it's a very rare and odd YouTube milestone award for reaching 100,000 subscribers.

Tama Hero's second Director's Chair sold to Jack.

The box that the Director's Chair was packaged in.

There is also the profile picture award that was given to some YouTubers in 2014 that had over 5 million subscribers at the time, such as DanTDM. They all had the YouTuber's profile picture in the middle of the award in black-and-white, accompanied by a bunch of positive YouTube comments in the background. JackSucksAtLife made his own profile picture award, but using negative comments instead. He later sold this on Ebay.

See also

• Letters
• JackSucksAtLife
• MrBeast
• Silver Play Button
• Golden Play Button
• Diamond Play Button
• Custom Play Button
• Red Diamond Play Button
• YouTube Records
• Most-subscribed YouTube Channels

References

Attribution

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