Developer Ubisoft has officially announced they won't be infringing on YouTube monetization users who want to feature their games.
Nintendo faced quite a bit of backlash last month after taking down a number of videos within YouTube’s “Let’s Play” community that were generating income for those who posted them through the service’s individual user monetization program.
Fans who used the service were naturally upset that a company they had supported by both featuring their content and promoting through word of mouth had rewarded them by yanking a majority of their videos simply because they weren’t getting a slice of the pie (as if Nintendo needs more money).
Fortunatly, game developer Ubisoft has taken the exact opposite stance as Nintendo, declaring today that YouTube users are "free to monetize your videos via the YouTube partner program and similar programs on other video sharing sites (for as long as you follow the specific guidelines of those individual programs). We consider ourselves fortunate to have fans actively engaging with our game content.”
It would seem Nintendo has also eased off their restrictive grip a bit as some YouTube users have reported that since Kotaku first ran the original story about Nintendo pulling monetized videos, they’ve been able to post videos featuring Nintendo games without reproach (though of course Nintendo hasn’t confirmed or denied any leniency in the policy).
So now if you want to start making money by posting Let’s Play YouTube videos, you are officially clear to use whatever Ubisoft games you want. Nintendo seems pretty safe as well for the time being but tread with caution nonetheless.
