Published , by Chris Jarrard
Published , by Chris Jarrard
There is no arguing that livestreaming has had a monumental impact on the way video games are consumed and created. Where you once had to have real-life friends willing to sit on your couch and watch you try to beat Mike Tyson in Punch-Out!!, streaming has opened up the entire world as a potential audience for one’s video game exploits. It can be used for fun or as a marketing tool that can make or break a game financially. As of now, most game publishers allow end-users to stream their games onto platforms like Twitch or Youtube without financial compensation. Alex Hutchinson, the former co-founder of Typhoon Games who is now under the Google Stadia umbrella, shared his opinion today that gamers should be directly paying developers and publishers for the games they stream, causing Google’s on-demand game streaming service to trend on social media.
Hutchinson’s sentiment came on the heels of streamer backlash directed at Twitch’s handling of the use of copyrighted music on live streams. In most other forms of media, content creators must pay to license copyright music or other content before it can legally be used in another medium. If the producers of Law and Order: SVU want to use a snippet of Smash Mouth’s All Star to play over a scene of an aggravated assault, they must first contact the publishers who own the rights to the recording and secure permission.
Many streamers and gamers did not agree with Hutchinson’s opinion on the matter, leading the discussion to gain traction on social media. Aside from the hype surrounding its original announcement and presumably at the undetermined time in the future when Google pulls the plug on the service, this is likely the only time the on-demand game streaming platform will reach such heights in social media metrics. Anyone versed in the art of hot takes understands that one will usually lead to another.
Ouch. For more of the latest news on the world of livestreaming and all the other video game business you can handle, keep it tuned to Shacknews.