youtube logo (Photo credit: redsoul300)
Over the weekend it was announced that YouTube was working to purchase Twitch, the popular video game streaming service. And yes, the internet took issue, although surprisingly my timeline wasn’t full of the screams of anger I’m used to when these things happen. Oh, it has nothing to do with monopolies, although you’ll find one or two of those. It’s the fact that YouTube has ticked off a lot of gamers recently and for good reason.
This is usually the part when I give some mention that people are overly concerned, and I’m not sure it’s going to go badly. On the other hand I understand the concerns here a lot more than when Disney buys something up. There may be something, at least in theory, to the fears here.
See, when Disney purchases something, people get all up in arms that, for example, Marvel is going to get all family-friendly and this and that. While Marvel NOW is claiming a lighter tone (like it did for the Heroic Age) it’s still as dark and gritty as it has been. Every time Disney claims something new, new concern shows up, turns out to be nothing, repeat the process.
This may be different. YouTube’s flawed Content ID system really hit the gaming community hard, whether we’re talking game reviewers or “let’s play” or walkthrough creators and they’re already cheesed off. Going to Twitch seemed a better alternative. And now there may be gamers worried that Twitch will suffer the same fate as YouTube.
video_google (Photo credit: Antonio Ortiz)
Let’s go back a few years, to when Google purchased YouTube. This was when TV and movie companies–and let’s be honest, they had a point–were upset that people were showing full episodes and movies, thus cutting into their profits. (If it’s something they aren’t actually selling, even to television networks or home video distributors, they’re still in the legal right but it’s harder to prove they’re being hurt by it. Granted, I’m no legal expert.) I don’t mean clips, I mean the full 90+ minute movie. They wanted YouTube to do something about it. The music industry, taking a hit from pirated music sites, also got into the game. And the YouTube creators were getting inundated with these complaints because that’s all studio lawyers have time to do anymore and this continued even when Google purchased YouTube. It had to be hard on them and trying to police all of the videos that come into YouTube every day isn’t easy.
The current system, as I’ve said, is broken and hurts the creator, whether it’s a review, comedy thing, or a tribute, but where do video games fit into this? Well, some companies aren’t happy with their content being shown. Their worry is that they’ll watch the video and not play the game. (Personally I’ve only watched video of games I don’t plan to ever play, probably couldn’t find, want to see what others did in a game I have played, or when I’m really that stuck.) Maybe if the game is terrible, and there are reports that suggest the video game industry is rigging the “professional” review system in their favor one way or another, usually through mild blackmail. It doesn’t help when fans get crazed if their favorite game gets a lower score than they want for their favorite games or vice versa but that’s a whole other article. What I’m saying is that some game companies have worked to get certain let’s plays and walkthroughs taken down, while plenty of others were just hit with the flawed ID system when something in the game sent a false red flag to the tracking bots. The Content ID debacle just shows off what games are on the “take this down” list.
So what does that mean for Twitch? We’ve already seen streams that get shut off on other general streaming sites for using certain music, whether they’re playing music videos or just background music. They have their own version of Content ID and streaming podcasts have run into that trouble. There is a possible source of concern if Twitch, should Google bow to the pressure with Twitch that they did for YouTube, could end up with a streaming Content ID system, bringing certain streams to an immediate end and maybe even getting gamers flagged. Or at least the worry about that is understandable given recent YouTube history.
Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Could it happen? I can’t say I wouldn’t be surprised but I’m also a bit doubtful for a few reasons. One is that Sony and Microsoft both went through the trouble of adding direct Twitch streaming to their online services. (I don’t know if Wii U has or is planning to and neither of the handhelds or tablet/phone gaming platforms have announced anything as far as I’ve heard. Imagine someone streaming Angry Birds or Farmville over Twitch and watch hardcore gamers lose their guano.) I would be surprised if Nintendo or Game Freak (the company that produces Pokemon) went after Twitch Plays Pokemon, a rather interesting gaming experiment where somehow the audience decides what happens next in the game, where they go and who they fight.
Also, Twitch gets used for charity streams, as does Google Hangout On The Air, Google’s own streaming service that streams to YouTube via Google+’s Hangout system. (It’s kind of like Skype but you can broadcast live to YouTube.) I haven’t heard of those streams being in trouble and if you go after a charity gaming stream you’re going to piss off not only the gamers and their fans but whatever charity they’re doing the gaming marathon for. You can imagine how bad the PR is. Yes, Content ID doesn’t know any better, but I see something like that having too huge a backlash that it wouldn’t stay up long.
Of course all of this is speculation. As I write this there is no certainty that the sale will happen, only that they’re looking to purchase Twitch, thus turning a rival into at least a partner and I think the service is too big to be drawn into YouTube or be replaced like Google Video was. While I think it’s a good idea to let Google, Twitch (who only recently parted ways with Justin TV), and the game companies know your concerns and hope they actually do a good job of listening or putting people’s minds at ease for a change, we should wait and see what is going to actually happen IF the sale goes through before gamers start losing their mind.
Hopefully they’re wrong. Hopefully.
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