Atlus have learned a valuable lesson, I think. That is, when you put rules in place that are draconian and legally iffy, then demand those rules are followed or face punishment, people will just do it anyway.
In case you missed the kerfuffle, Atlus announced that anyone streaming or uploading Persona 5 content could not show past the 7/7 section of the game, or face a ban.
Their logic for this was simple – they did not want the game spoiled for others. The list of things you aren’t supposed to show is rather long, including romance scenes, boss fights and end of dungeon scenes.
I have a feeling if Atlus has simply said, “Please don’t show these, but if you do, clearly label them” we wouldn’t be here.
Instead, Atlus threatened people with channel suspension.
“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,” they said.
Surprising to no one ever, this has gone over rather poorly and it has proven ineffective as well. Many Youtubers and streamers have decided to show Atlus a big old middle finger by streaming it anyway.
AdmiralBahroo/Twitch
Haitharr/Twitch
I am resuming Persona 5. And I am not stopping. And if I get a DMCA I will file a counter DMCA. Good day to you. https://t.co/Q6RH03L17v
— BikeMan (@BikeManStream) 5 April 2017
The decision has been adomonished as “brazenly stupid and nonsensical” as well. In my view, what Atlus should have done is ask that any videos or streams past 7/7 should be clearly marked for spoilers, which would have probably been done without question.
But the threats and demands… not so much. Especially when one could argue that if you don’t want to see spoilers, what are you doing watching a livestream of a story based RPG?
Hitting people with strikes and copyright claims is not the way to get people on your side, and instead of the conversation surrounding Persona 5 being about how good the game is, we have a swathe of negativity.
It’s hardly surprising that people have reacted this way to the attempt of tightfisted micromanagement by Atlus, what’s more surprisingm, is that Atlus apparently expected an answer of “Yes, sir”.
