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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Nintendo restricts livestreaming games for YouTubers in Nintendo’s partners program

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YouTube creators who participate in Nintendo’s Creators program will not be able to livestream Nintendo games from the YouTube account tied to Nintendo’s Partner program, the publisher has confirmed.

Nintendo issued an update today outlining its livestreaming policy, which now states that YouTube channels linked to Nintendo’s partner program can not stream any Nintendo game either for monetization or non-monetization purposes. Instead, YouTubers have a couple of options. The easiest, albeit disadvantageous option, instructs YouTubers to stream from a different account not associated with Nintendo’s program.

Nintendo’s full update states:

Live streaming on YouTube falls outside the scope of the Nintendo Creators Program. You cannot broadcast content on YouTube Live from the account you have registered to the Nintendo Creators Program. If you plan to broadcast content on YouTube Live, you have a couple of options. First, you can broadcast content on YouTube Live from a channel that is not registered to the Nintendo Creators Program. Or, you can cancel your channel’s registration to the Nintendo Creators Program and instead, register your videos containing Nintendo’s IP to the program separately. Videos which had previously been registered through your channel would need to be reregistered individually.

Nintendo’s update only applies to livestreaming, but it’s important to note the language. The publisher says that YouTubers cannot “broadcast content on YouTube Live from the account you have registered to the Nintendo Creators Program.” This means that even if YouTubers want to stream games without monetizing the stream, Nintendo won’t allow it. Those who have partnered with Nintendo can still create other videos that showcase content from Nintendo games as long as commentary is included. A Let’s Play series of a game like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a good example.

Nintendo first introduced its partners program back in March. Prior to the program, any monetization that came from using Nintendo gameplay footage would go to the company. Through the program, Nintendo agreed to “share of these advertising proceeds for any YouTube videos or channels containing Nintendo-copyrighted content that you register.” The program allows YouTubers to submit full channels or specific videos for monetization. The “revenue share is 70 percent for channels and 60 percent for videos,” but that may change, according to Nintendo.

To join Nintendo’s Creators program, creators must also be part of YouTube’s Partners program, meaning channels must have a total of 10,000 public views before partnership can be granted. YouTube’s Partners program policy came under fire yesterday after YouTube confirmed that external links in end slates on videos (to crowdfunding sites or personal shops) would only be included for those in the Partners program.

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