video player error

[MrCookie_Official]

i've noticed that the main video player doesnt work in any world, at first i thought its a major game issue that devs didnt fix, so i left it as it was and waited. the following day i joined again and tested the video player if it worked, but still nothing. as a desperate need of answers i dug on the internet, and i found this forum where they said to check the output in your appdata. when i checked it showed me this after many failed attempts of loading the video: "2025.03.25 20:09:58 Error - [<color=#FF00FF>USharpVideo</color>] Video 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwE7X2UbyHE&pp=ygURam9nbyBtb3J0byBzbG93ZWQ%3D' failed to play with error Unknown". i figured its not on my end since it wasnt fixed even after reinstallation. do you guys have the same issue? please let me know im desperate

[c l o u d s]

i have been going through the same thing, i tried soooo many things and still nothing but somehow i can still watch movies at the popcorn palace so it's just any youtube link that isn't working for me rn

[mayce]

This is a known issue, and it appears that the VRChat team has not prioritized an update, or are just plain lazy.

The problem stems from YouTube's ongoing efforts against ad blockers, which have altered the way their media resolutions function. VRChat relies on an open-source tool called YT-DLP to download and combine YouTube video and audio. Currently, they are using a customized version of YT-DLP that is incompatible with the latest updates from YouTube. You can attempt to resolve this by downloading the latest version from the main YT-DLP GitHub repository and replacing the tool located at %userprofile%\AppData\LocalLow\VRChat\VRChat\Tools\yt-dlp.exe.

While this may resolve your issue— it worked for me— it may not have the same effect for everyone, as it did not fix the problem for my friend. I recommend reaching out to VRChat support to encourage them to implement an update that addresses this issue.

Ultimately, the most effective solution would be for VRChat to acquire a license from Google to access videos without ads. By continuing to use YT-DLP, the VRChat team risks violating YouTube's Terms of Service, which could expose them to potential legal action for tortious interference.

You can also just use other services like Twitch or Dailymotion to watch videos.

[Totino]

Originally posted by mayce:

This is a known issue, and it appears that the VRChat team has not prioritized an update, or are just plain lazy.

The problem stems from YouTube's ongoing efforts against ad blockers, which have altered the way their media resolutions function. VRChat relies on an open-source tool called YT-DLP to download and combine YouTube video and audio. Currently, they are using a customized version of YT-DLP that is incompatible with the latest updates from YouTube. You can attempt to resolve this by downloading the latest version from the main YT-DLP GitHub repository and replacing the tool located at %userprofile%\AppData\LocalLow\VRChat\VRChat\Tools\yt-dlp.exe.

While this may resolve your issue— it worked for me— it may not have the same effect for everyone, as it did not fix the problem for my friend. I recommend reaching out to VRChat support to encourage them to implement an update that addresses this issue.

Ultimately, the most effective solution would be for VRChat to acquire a license from Google to access videos without ads. By continuing to use YT-DLP, the VRChat team risks violating YouTube's Terms of Service, which could expose them to potential legal action for tortious interference.

You can also just use other services like Twitch or Dailymotion to watch videos.

theres a catch
replacing yt-dlp doesn't work anymore for 2 reasons
1. if you replace it then load the game on boot it will delete your version and put its own one back
2. if you replace the file and made it read only so vrchat can't replace it it will simply not load it at all giving you errors immediately as if it wasn't installed at all

this is quite appaling since now a lot of worlds that rely on music like audioorbs don't work properly

[Draxxel]

But evidently the youtube world has been fixed. So there is that at least.

[cristo]

but they haven't followed much in the world of YouTube?