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YouTube go to Notch to try and Strike Ad Revenue Deal on Minecraft Videos

G

Gowans

Member
mP1m45W.png


https://twitter.com/notch/status/335045859156819969

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https://twitter.com/notch/status/335047039647883264







I missed this in the Nintendo mega thread on the topic and it's a few days old but I think it's worth its own thread.

It seems like YouTube are courting devs/publishers to introduce more ad revenue sharing.

Good move by Notch, it seems like accepting this would put a bullet in any YouTube coverage of your titles.

Relevant:
NeoGAF Thread: Nintendo going after Youtube Let's Play videos
Reddit Thread: Nintendo claims ownership over gamer fanvids on YouTube




I don't get why they are doing this? At most it should be a revenue share with the content creators they seem to be massively personality based now and work through those personality playing in their games sandbox.

I believe the RooterTeeth Minecraft Lets Plays get over a million views for each episode alone.
 
C

Courage

Member
Maybe Notch realized that without his dedicated fanbase uploading those videos, Minecraft wouldn't have been as big as it is now.
 
K

KojiKnight

Member
This seems to be a bit of a dangerous trend...

Google probably goes to them with a deal where they keep more of the revenue, but since the revenue would be going to fewer individuals, they can take it to the parent companies as a big cheque.
 
LiquidMetal14

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
I hate to get into this argument again but it would probably benefit him to leave the videos alone as Minecraft has made bank and continues to do so on a daily basis. The let's plays or just cool videos only help preach the gospel.
 
A

aeolist

Banned
i'm glad someone remembered that fostering community interest in your game is worth far more long-term than a quick ad payout
 
R

Rasec

Member
Since that introduction to premium, subscription, yt channels, there's been weird things happening to youtube.

I thought nintendo was a solo thing but if yt is really courting devs/publishers i see a lot of people that wins good cash with their gameplays starting to be afraid that they'll lose good money.
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
It doesn't necessarily mean YouTube were courting publishers, perhaps they saw lots of minecraft YouTube views and approached them simply to inform them they could enforce their IP?
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Rasec said:
Since that introduction to premium, subscription, yt channels, there's been weird things happening to youtube.

I thought nintendo was a solo thing but if yt is really courting devs/publishers i see a lot of people that wins good cash with their gameplays starting to be afraid that they'll lose good money.
Click to expand...

animlboogy said:
He'd be a fool not to know that. His game was always half the story, the right people playing and promoting it without guidance or PR is the other half. The world knew how to approach the game before they even played it, which is huge for something as open ended and obtuse (recipes) as Minecraft. Those YouTube videos stood in for the manual that nobody would have read before dropping the game in frustration.
Click to expand...


The kind of game it is is critical though. Minecraft is a sandbox, and the good lets play videos show what can be done and inspire viewers. Or are just dumb fun and you enjoy watching the person messing around (alone or with friends).

A more linear story driven game has IMO less value add from LPers (not to say they don't add value)
 
C

Chris_C

Member
LiquidMetal14 said:
I hate to get into this argument again but it would probably benefit him to leave the videos alone as Minecraft has made bank and continues to do so on a daily basis. The let's plays or just cool videos only help preach the gospel.
Click to expand...

They surely do, it's free advertising. I got Minecraft because of Paul Soares Jrs' videos. Amusing that Nintendo, despite having billions in the bank decided they need this revenue, whilst Notch sees the value in passing.
 
S

Somnid

Member
aeolist said:
i'm glad someone remembered that fostering community interest in your game is worth far more long-term than a quick ad payout
Click to expand...

People are going to stop recording livestreams of certain games because they aren't getting paid? Now who's chasing profits?
 
M

M3d10n

Member
Is it even possible to ContentID Minecraft? The entire thing is dynamic and there aren't cutscenes or music to be detected.

Pungza said:
So could Sony get ad revenue with the share function and recording/streaming videos?
Click to expand...
I think it's more about the ad space itself than the revenue. If Sony, Nintendo and co. can gain control over the ads displayed for videos featuring their games, they can make sure only ads for their own products are displayed.
 
K

KojiKnight

Member
mrklaw said:
It doesn't necessarily mean YouTube were courting publishers, perhaps they saw lots of minecraft YouTube views and approached them simply to inform them they could enforce their IP?
Click to expand...

It's not a coincidence that Nintendo did this and suddenly Notch is mentioned that he was asked about it. Even if they were, as you put it "only approaching them to inform them they could enforce their IP", the topic came up on revenue sharing. Google wants more money, and they see going through the IP owners as a means to do so.
 
A

aeolist

Banned
Somnid said:
People are going to stop recording livestreams of certain games because they aren't getting paid? Now who's chasing profits?
Click to expand...

people being able to make some kind of a living off of producing video content for games means it'll happen more and end up being higher quality

i don't see how that's hard to understand
 
W

wrowa

Member
Revenue should be shared between the IP holder and the video creator, but most IP holders who are in touch with that part of the business won't do it or will hesitate to do it in fear of the inevitable outcry amongst the video creators and the people they reach with their videos.

Though it also strongly depends on the type of video; I'm not sure if YouTube allows for case by case decisions like that.
 
M

Metalmurphy

Member
I don't understand why this can't be a 3 way thing though. Creator, IP owner and Youtube all getting a cut. Why does it have to be IP owner and Youtube only?
 
M

Munin

Member
Let's Plays are a joke. Devs should receive 100% of the revenue. The only reason people are butthurt is because they fear they can't sit on their ass all day and play video games anymore to make a living.
 
S

Somnid

Member
aeolist said:
people being able to make some kind of a living off of producing video content for games means it'll happen more and end up being higher quality

i don't see how that's hard to understand
Click to expand...

These videos have no production values, it's all gameplay content, that's kinda the point. I don't think it's the same with like AVGN or Mega64 etc which are producing actual content and a taking a lot of effort.
 
N

nephilimdj

Member
mrklaw said:
What happened?
Click to expand...

Notched asked them not to swear due to young children, they did anyway, notch was upset, yogcast said minecon was crap and complained notch didn't pay for the whole group to fly to the event (only 3 of the 6 or something like that).
 
A

aeolist

Banned
Somnid said:
These videos have no production values, it's all gameplay content, that's kinda the point. I don't think it's the same with like AVGN or Mega64 etc which are producing actual content and a taking a lot of effort.
Click to expand...

AV editing, effects, and in some cases scripting and rehearsal take up a lot of time
 
N

Nibel

Member
He's a multi-millionaire

His employees are millionaires

I don't think the decision wasn't as hard as many think even though they probably got a good offer
 
K

KojiKnight

Member
Canis lupus said:
LP videos have high production values?
Click to expand...

Some do, at least by youtube standards. Editing takes quite a lot of effort... For every "cash in" style, minimal to no editing ala Game Grumps, there is one that does a lot of editing/effects to improve on it ala PBG.

There are a lot of both... but you can't justify "it's not work" against all LPers just to "punish" the simple and fast types.
 
A

aeolist

Banned
the point is that even the low-effort game videos out there provide exposure for your product to a potential market, and if ad revenue is out there it'll encourage higher quality efforts and competition between producers
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Jawmuncher said:
I'm more amazed at the fact minecraft vids are so popular. This pretty much sums up my feelings about them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFyzadnA79k
(NSFW for language)

But good on notch for not caving even thoug he almost did.
Click to expand...

If you don't like them, don't watch them?

But that's a stupid video. There are some great lets plays out there, from tutorials and mods to UHC multiplayer shenanigans.

I don't watch to see someone make a boat, I watch to see people enjoying themselves and sometimes to learn more about using new features recently added, or mods I'm curious about
 
Jawmuncher

Jawmuncher

Member
mrklaw said:
If you don't like them, don't watch them?

But that's a stupid video. There are some great lets plays out there, from tutorials and mods to UHC multiplayer shenanigans.

I don't watch to see someone make a boat, I watch to see people enjoying themselves and sometimes to learn more about using new features recently added, or mods I'm curious about
Click to expand...

I don't.
I wasn't coming in here to down any videos or players.
Thus why I added the remark that i'm glad Notch didn't cave. Also that video is really old so times have changed a bit.
 
J

Joe Shlabotnik

Banned
Munin said:
Let's Plays are a joke. Devs should receive 100% of the revenue. The only reason people are butthurt is because they fear they can't sit on their ass all day and play video games anymore to make a living.
Click to expand...

It's not that simple, especially for something like Minecraft. Notch is aware that Minecraft videos fostered interest in the game. People make Minecraft videos because they like to make them, *and* Minecraft videos are popular, *and* because they can make money off of them. The cycle feeds off of itself. Notch taking a cut out of Minecraft videos could easily strangle that whole ecosystem--people stop making videos because it doesn't make them money anymore, which hurts interest in the game, which means Minecraft videos aren't popular anymore, which means Notch makes less money off of Minecraft videos and possibly reduces sales of Minecraft itself.

And yes, you can certainly argue that Let's Plays may hurt business for certain kinds of games, possibly one-and-done cinematic adventures like Tomb Raider, etc. But it's a case-by-case basis, at the very least, and there's no broad argument to be made that it's good business sense for all devs to take all revenues from YouTube videos.
 
R

rrs

Member
Some weird shit is happening at YouTube, and it doesn't look good for viewers or small producers
 
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