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New games and monetized youtube channels

A topic by Games by 🅱️riefer666 created 72 days ago Views: 360 Replies: 9

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Hi all

Last week I released one game with a price of 2€. So far so good, there was two youtube channels that purchased the game and made a video.

After 1 week I released a demo to help the users know about the game and test it before purchasing. To my surprise, one channel that I will not name here (saberman) took the oportunity to use the demo to upload a monitized video.

Yes, he is in his right to do it because I released the demo without any disclaimer. But I think it is not fair that these channels earn with 10 minutes of work what took me 1 month to program.

I searched all my releases and payments and I found that I have never received a cent for all my games he has published in his channel (five in the last 5 years). I do not know about the rest but I would not be surprised to find out that he has never paid for any of the games he has leeched from.

So in future releases I will have no choice but to add a disclaimer to all my demos and free games, forbidding their use to create monetized videos. If they want to use it, they have to collaborate. And I invite you if you are going to release a game to follow the same practice.

Also maybe there is space for improvement in the games publications regarding license terms.

Kind regards

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itoldyousoso72 days ago(+1)

do not name a channel, that you do not want to name. not that this was necessary to find the channel. if you complain about the channel monetising videos about your games, i suggest the channel should complain about your site getting advertisement out of those videos.

even if the legal situation of gameplay videos is a brown mess that does not help anyone involved, it is very unwise to shun or forbid it.

complaining about free advertisement is kinda strange, especially for an indie developer.

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K. A. Laherty70 days ago

I can understand why you might be annoyed, but the kind of disclaimer you're wishing to do will not help you.

I've never sold a game, but I wish to do so in the future, so feel free to dismiss me, but stop thinking solely as a developer who wants to make money, but remember that your sales will be based on people wanting to play and buy indie games.

Have you ever decided to check out a game because of a youtuber?

It sucks that they might make more than you, or if you have a narrative or linear game; they might play through the whole game and lose you sales, but you do not want to be that "angry developer". I know it sucks, but try to work around it.

I hope that you don't think I'm trying to be rude or mean, I'm just really don't want you to do something you'd regret.

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Games by 🅱️riefer66670 days ago

"thinking solely as a developer who wants to make money"

If that was the case I would be selling drugs, not programming games for a 40+ years old computer :D

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Scary Pixels70 days ago

That channel has helped you. Some people will see the video that they've made about your demo and then proceed to purchase the paid version of your game. It's how advertising works, and the reason that big publishers spend so much money paying youtubers/streamers to cover their new releases.

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Games by 🅱️riefer66670 days ago

That would be true is he really cares about the games he upload. But the only thing he does is starting the game and wiggle the joystick around. There is zero interest in really showing the game, just uploading as many videos as possible.

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hechelion69 days ago (1 edit)

So why does it bother you?

If it doesn't harm you in any way, what do you gain by adding a clause ?

There are people who buy without reading anything, but you have a group that won't buy if there are DRM or abusive clauses, and a clause that prohibits uploading gameplay videos will be perceived as abusive.

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Games by 🅱️riefer66669 days ago

It harms me because the people that see that video will not understand how the game is played. And they will think that the game is only the first elvel included in the demo.

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hechelion69 days ago

I don't see it that way at all. If it only shows a few seconds of your gameplay, then anyone who's interested knows they should go find information about it, because that video doesn't go into depth. Ultimately, it's just a showcase, not an analysis or review of your game.

You can't expect all content created about your products to be good/high-quality; that's the problem with social media.

The problem with putting a clause that prevents anyone from uploading gameplay of your game is that you're not only preventing people from creating bad content, you're also preventing people from creating good content, and in a super-saturated market, it's like shooting yourself in the foot.

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JesusItsGame69 days ago(+3)

I'm not sure it is the worse thing ever. Just because if that YouTuber has ads or not they are still displaying your game. So you are still getting publicity and traffic towards your game. If that person wants to monetize it to make a little money themself then I don't see the issue. Like you stated you took ages making this game and for someone to just take it and make some money from a 10 minuet clip I understand does feel kinda sleezy. But honestly look on the bright side. Someone is interested enough in your game to want to share it online with other people. Try look for the positive side. (If this felt like I was being rude or anything I promise I wasn't. )

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