If you haven’t heard already, Nintendo has recently gone forward with a very controversial maneuver to claim the advertising revenue from Let’s Play videos. The videos will stay up, but the fans who made these videos will not receive the ad revenue. You can read more about the specifics here.
One of the interesting things to come out of this scandal is an admission by Notch that Youtube offered him a cut of Minecraft video ad revenue.
Notch was quick to point out that they almost took Youtube up on the offer, but that they would’ve relented once presented with the backlash that Nintendo has received.
Let’s Play videos generate buzz, and for smaller titles and independents (including titles like Minecraft), that buzz can be exceptionally important. Without seeing videos of Minecraft on Youtube and all the amazing, crazy, wonderful stuff that can be made with it, I probably would’ve dismissed the game as little more than online Lego’s.
Developer of Thomas Was Alone Mike Bithell, says that Youtube (specifically a video by Total Biscuit) helped make his game a success. “Total Biscuit did a WTF video about the game…Thomas sold eight times more units than on launch day. In a matter of hours, I was outselling Assassin’s Creed 3 on Steam.” You can read the rest of his excellent commentary on why Nintendo doesn’t understand what they’re doing here.
Hopefully Nintendo and Youtube won’t be responsible for cutting down the LP industry, because in the end, it’s only the fans they’re hurting.
