For those unfamiliar, "Brand Deals" are usually offers from the marketing arm of publishers intended to encourage positive coverage of a product through payment or non-monetary reward. Note that while I say Youtuber here, these deals are often also offered to prominent Twitch streamers.
Youtubers may receive any of the following: early access to the game, permission to create content for a game prior to other outlets, free copies of the game to give away, advertising from the publisher, or direct payment.
In turn, Youtubers provide coverage of the game, often with pre-established conditions about: the tone of the content (often no negativity allowed), what content can be shown, whether critical claims can be made at all, how long the content can be, language constraints (no curse words, or no mentions of competitor's games).
Other Youtuber conditions can include: broadcasting messages via their social media channels often with specific keywords/hashtags (very common), links/annotations/indirect referrals to sales sites or official websites, product placement in-video, required name dropping, other forms of advertising.
It's also important to not that, at least to the best of my knowledge, it's illegal for a Youtuber to accept a "Brand Deal" where they accept compensation and don't make clear the arrangement to their audience. They have to tell you they've made these deals. Of course, if they're only being provided a game early in trade for some social media advertising, that's a grey area. No grey area if there's cash involved, though.
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