In a community support post, the company said it will approach "scripted or simulated" video game violence in the same way that it does movies or television shows.
"We know there's a difference between real-world violence and scripted or simulated violence – such as what you see in movies, TV shows, or video games – so we want to make sure we're enforcing our violent or graphic content policies consistently," YouTube said.
The news has been met with praise on Twitter and could be beneficial for YouTube Gaming creators that post videos containing violent gameplay.
Less age-restricted content
YouTube said the policy amendments will mean less video content being restricted behind an age-gate, so more viewers will be able to access it.
The company also said that although it will have fewer restrictions for violence in games, this will have no bearing on its "high bar to protect audiences from real-world violence".
It noted that certain content may still be age-restricted if the primary focus of the video is "violent or gory imagery".
YouTube said the new policy will not affect YouTube's advertiser-friendly guidelines, which determine the parameters for monetisation of videos.
Therefore, content that is not deemed to be "advertiser-friendly" won't generate ad revenue.
