Spoiler Alert!
Nobody likes spoilers. When someone or
something comes along and ruins an upcoming bit of media for you, it’s hard not
to get frustrated or even angry. There are trolls everywhere on the internet
who attend midnight screenings of the latest blockbuster and then post spoilers
in comment sections of unrelated stuff, or people who rapid fire through games
and then upload a video to YouTube with the surprise final boss in the
thumbnail. It’s frustrating trying to avoid spoilers in this day and age, which
is why I love when people swoop in and help clean up the mess so others won’t
have their experiences ruined.
But there comes a point where you must
ask yourself: how much is too much? Yes, it’s true nobody likes having
something they’ve been looking forward to spoiled for them, but the real
question is where do you draw the line between what is and isn’t fair game to
talk about?
Persona
5 developer and Sega subsidiary Atlus made waves earlier this month when
they unveiled their spoiler policy for the long-anticipated release in a blog
post. “We don’t want the experience spoiled for people who haven’t played the
game.” the Japanese developer politely said on April 4, later mentioning that
since fans have waited years for this game they don’t want someone to
accidentally stumble on the final boss by accident.
But, as things tend to do in this
industry, Atlus’s statement quickly went from a request to a forceful demand.
For whatever reason you aren’t allowed to make videos about Persona longer than 90 minutes
regardless of what content is in them. You’re also not allowed to feature
certain story-crucial items or characters in videos, as well as most major boss
fights. Nor are you allowed to make movie-type videos of cutscenes stringed
together.
But the blog post ends with the
biggest demand of them all, labeled under “Streaming Content”.
Atlus concluded the blog post with “This being a Japanese title with a single-playthrough
story means our masters in Japan are very wary about it. Sharing is currently
blocked through the native PS4 UI.
However,
if you do plan on streaming, video guidelines above apply except length. If you decide to stream past 7/7 (I
HIGHLY RECOMMEND NOT DOING THIS, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED), you do so at the risk
of being issued a content ID claim or worse, a channel strike/account
suspension.”
But it doesn’t stop there. Inspired by their subsidiary’s
plot, Sega decided to pose restrictions on another recently released game: Puyo Puyo Tetris. While these restrictions only apply
in Japan, they’re no less scumbaggy than the ones Persona has. Japanese content
creators are only allowed to post footage of the forthcoming game as long as
the videos aren’t being put on commercial sites. That removes the big-name
stuff like the previously mentioned YouTube and Twitch, as well as barring
anyone hoping to make money off creating content based on the game.
So why is Sega doing this? It’s apparently because they’re
afraid of someone getting spoiled on the puzzle crossover game’s Adventure
Mode.
Guys. It’s Tetris.
We all know how it ends. You make a few mistakes, the blocks start piling up,
and then it’s game over. Am I breaking the rules by saying that?
The gaming market has changed significantly in the last few
years with the advent of let’s plays, video reviews and of course streaming
hitting it big, allowing people to gain fanbases to rival that of major
celebrities just by talking about a game and why they like or dislike it.
Unfortunately, the businessmen that run a lot of the major Japanese gaming
companies have been having extreme difficulty accepting that this is the way
things are now and fighting it only breeds contempt. Nintendo
got a lot of flak a few years ago for their content creation policy and Konami
regularly sends copyright strikes to any YouTube video with even just few
seconds of any of their games in it.
I like to think that Atlus’s heart is in the right place with
all this. After all, they’re just trying to keep people from finding out major
plot points in their extremely story-based game from outside sources. But
here’s the big problem: streamers and YouTubers have become a quick and easy
way to generate positive press about your game. If millions of fans watch
someone like Markiplier or PewDiePie play your game and hear them say they love
it, odds are they’ll go out and buy it for themselves. At the
end of the day, the developer gets a bunch of copies sold, the YouTuber
receives ad revenue from the video, and the viewer gets a new game they’ll
hopefully love. Everybody wins. For a good example look at the Five Nights at
Freddy’s series. Despite what your opinion may be on
the games, there’s no denying that they wouldn’t have grown to the ludicrous
popularity they now enjoy without the word of mouth from popular YouTubers and
streamers.
So while Atlus might find it noble to be looking out for the
little guy who doesn’t want one of the boss fights spoiled, they’re also
costing themselves massive amounts of free publicity in the process. This
isn’t even mentioning that telling people not to do something only starts up
the Streisand Effect again, making everyone do exactly what you didn’t want
them to do in the first place. Streaming and YouTube have become
mainstays in the gaming industry, and by trying to block it through sheer force
your company only comes across as behind the times. Catch up or be left in the
dust, Sega.
Song of the Week
PuyoTetroMix – Puyo Puyo Tetris
(am I breaking the rules by putting
this here, Sega?)
No comments:
Post a Comment