Patreon has proved an additional source of revenue for many creators, but over the past couple of years, it has been a lifeboat for those wanting to lessen their dependence on platforms like YouTube and Twitch to make money while creating the content that they want.

Now Patreon has announced some ambitious plans that could soon see it rival YouTube in terms of being a port of call for creators, with CEO Jack Conte confirming to The Verge that it is working on its own video hosting, along with a dedicated media player.

“We’re building the horizontal architecture for any creator, no matter their medium, or no matter the upload format, to be able to build a business around their work,” Conte explained to the publication.

The CEO notes that Patreon already hosts podcasts on its platform, so video hosting is a natural progression.

Currently, should creators wish to use the platform to share content with patrons, a third-party service like YouTube or Vimeo must be used in order to upload, but the addition of its own video hosting would ostensibly cut out the middle man and not necessarily have to worry about issues like demonetisation.

That said, should it be successful in its attempts to create a hosting site, soon Patreon will need to consider elements like policing what type of content is uploaded to its platform.

Either way, it would open up an avenue for creators to share content and potentially garner more revenue in the process.

For now, there is no word on when Patreon aims to have the new offerings up and running, what company is helping it develop or which hosting platform it would opt for.

As such, we’ll need to see how this plan develops overt the coming months.