Last time we talked about YouTube, it was because their ads were getting a bit out of hand. Now it appears that YouTube is removing another feature to turn it exclusive. Yes, rumors speculate that users may need to avail of the paid YouTube Premium service to play videos in 4K resolution.

This rumor comes from Reddit user Ihatesmokealarms who found the feature while browsing videos as usual. Not much of a description is given, so many aren’t sure if this is an actual experimental feature or just some photo editing magic at work. Most of us are inclined to believe the latter since it feels like Google is turning YouTube into a game with features being the DLCs taken away and hidden behind paywalls.

As expected, the internet was up all in arms about it. Many are disappointed that Google has continuously taken away essential features – including this 4K video tool that many use to calibrate their 4K HDR TVs. Some made jokes of jumping ship should YouTube continue treading down this path, while others provided workarounds like YouTube Vanced and accessing the site through a mobile browser.

It appears that it’s not on everyone’s devices yet though. Users hypothesize that A/B testing is currently being conducted which sets apart an experimental group to gauge reactions. None of them are even remotely good, so it would be a good idea for YouTube to drop this idea of sealing 4K video behind Premium.

Social media application Twitter is also abuzz with the news. GuidingTech Senior Writer Sumukh Rao put up a poll with around 1,600+ respondents, and majority claim to top out at 1080p as of now. The split would obviously be very dependent on geographical location, common devices watched on, and average broadband speed – we can’t imagine many users in the Philippines watching 4K video on a regular basis. Even modern smartphones and laptop manufacturers see diminishing returns after 2K resolution.

Regardless of this experiment’s outcome, it should be clear to Google that alternatives start becoming far more attractive is the company continues along this path of revenue generation. If these trends continue, then we may see an all-new top video streaming app to take its crown within the next couple of years.