Let’s play friendly developer list published

In the wake of the news that Youtube had begun stripping ownership of many Let's Play videos away from video content producers, some developers and publishers have sided with the Youtubers and have been making a real effort to have those videos returned to their original owners. Not all though, which is why a long list of let's play friendly developers has now been created, to help those that want to monetise the content they made, do so without Google coming along and ruining their day.

The list is pretty extensive and to date no developer has come out and actively said “no” that it won't allow monetised content, but there's still a lot of maybes on there which means it's unclear, or that no response has been received. Unsurprisingly, those are from big publishing studios rather than the mainstream developers. It includes companies like Warner Bros Interactive, 2k Games and Creative Assembly. However it's surprising to see that CD Projekt Red is still a maybe, considering how much of a opponent of DRM and other anti-piracy efforts it's proven to be. The two issues aren't one and the same, but they're not too dissimilar.

Some developers quickly came out and supported the video makers when the news broke

However, even those that have said yes in some instances require permission. EA games is unsurprisingly one of these (also with a “maybe), as is Konami and Nordic Games. The list isn't entirely accurate however, as Remedy Entertainment is listed as a yes, though a quick check of its FAQ reads that it doesn't want any monetisation of its videos, despite the free publicity those videos give it.

Of course there are many developers and publishers – surprisingly that includes ones like Ubisoft – that are happy for anyone to stream anything of their's and monetise all of it as they understand that no advertising can buy the kind of time and space that a positive let's play will.

To check out the full list, head here.

KitGuru Says: The fact that some developers don't want footage of their game on Youtube, or worse yet, don't mind it there but don't want anyone to make money from commenting on it (when that's perfectly legal under fair use law) is so shortsighted it's dumbfounding. No wonder the video game industry is heading for a crash.

Become a Patron!