- YouTube was testing out requiring a Premium subscription for 4K and higher resolutions.
- People in Google’s experimental group who were non-subscribers were seeing Premium appear next to the 2160p option.
- This would have added a new perk for YouTube Premium while taking away something that’s currently free for all users.
Update: October 17, 2022 (03:00 PM ET): YouTube has revealed in a statement from its TeamYouTube Twitter account that the company has stopped its experiment. It also confirmed that all users should have access to the 4K resolution again. You can read more here.
Google has been trying hard to get YouTube viewers to subscribe to its Premium subscription. While this has mostly come in the form of pushing more ads — both skippable and unskippable — the company seems to be testing out a new strategy. This new strategy could see 4K and higher resolutions locked behind its paywall.