Why, Google, why? The YouTube Crackdown.

YouTube's infamous "sorry" icon, usually followed by an explanation of why the video is unavailable.

I don't know how many of you out there watch YouTube videos about video games, but I'm sure almost all of you have used YouTube in the past. You may or may not know, that over the past couple of months YouTube has initiated a copyright "crackdown" of sorts on YouTube videos which feature video game content from certain developers or "content owners" as YouTube calls them. For more details/explanations see this article: http://kotaku.com/youtubes-copyright-crackdown-simple-answers-to-compli-1485999937  

As a person who appreciates video games as a de-stressing tool, sometimes I find myself stuck, or unsure what to do next in the game. Or, more to the point of this post, maybe I am considering purchasing a new game. And perhaps I am a picky video gamer, or a poor college student, or just a person who doesn't want to waste money on a game I might not like. So I take to the internet! YouTube is my go-to video sharing site, as is the case for millions of others. I type in some search terms and I find a guide through the part that I am stuck at. Or I find a review that shows some game-play, so I can get a feel for if I would like the visual effects, the style of graphics, the story-line, the setting, etc. Or maybe I'm a person that goes to YouTube for guidance on these things frequently, and I have one or two people who post videos that I really like, so I always go to their channel for "advice". Only now, Because of this copyright crackdown, the video I used yesterday for guidance is no longer available. Or I'm thinking of buying a new game I heard about from a friend, so I look on my favorite YouTube channel to see if this person has posted a video about this game I am considering. Since this person has established a rapport with me, and has no reason to lie or over-hype the game, I am more inclined to trust their opinion on it than other people, or companies.  

But now that that video is unavailable, maybe I won't bother looking into it further. Maybe I'll wait until this channel puts up another video about this game (and who knows how long that might take). Or maybe I know this copyright crackdown is going on. And maybe I "know" its being pushed by certain game developers, so now I'm just angry that all this content is now being taken away from my favorite channel. So perhaps now, I simply won't buy the game out of spite. (I say "know" because there was a lot of dispute when it started whether it originated from YouTube itself or by the game developers) Maybe now I will tell all my friends that the developer is being a jerk and having YouTube remove all the videos with their content, and I tell my friends that they shouldn't buy the game either. Or maybe my friends still want the game, so instead of buying it they just torrent it as a form of protest. 

Contrary to popular belief, gaming is a very social experience for most people. Any given self proclaimed "gamer" has a group that they normally play with, be it in real life or via the internet. These groups can be anywhere between 3 people and 100 people. There are millions of groups like this scattered throughout the world. The important thing is that they play together because they share similar taste in games. And therefore will likely trust each others opinions on new games. Or in this case they could unite in protest to a new game if they don't like the developer for any reason. These small groups aside, there are some YouTube channels with not thousands, not tens of thousands, not even hundreds of thousands, but millions of subscribers. Which correlates to possibly millions of customers. And if you've seen how some of these people are idolized, you would be shocked, but that's how it is. And if the people who run these channels with millions of followers -who are just that; followers who will follow what they say- that could have a tangible impact on business. And the people that own these popular channels are not blind, they know there are other channels out there, but instead of trying to destroy each other, like in business, they typically work together, sometimes meet in person and do videos together. The point is they talk to one another. And if one channel has its videos removed, other channels will hear about it, even if they don't have any of their own videos taken down, they will hear about it and be upset about it. And if they express that frustration to their millions of followers, they all may avoid a certain game, or maybe even a whole company. 

Even if they don't explicitly protest these companies it spells bad business for the big developers. Because what is the incentive for these big channels to be on YouTube? Fame? Maybe at first, but eventually its money. They want to make videos that get as many views as possible so that they can make money! So next time they are thinking of doing a video about a new game, they aren't going to pick the game from the developer whose video will have to be taken down. They will skip it, and go to another developer. The amount of free advertising these developers get through these YouTube channels is astonishing. To reach the audiences that these channels reach would be immensely expensive, and they were getting it for free! 

I think the mistake some of these companies were and still are making is this. They believe that a video game is like a movie, or a book, or a show. And that people want the story, and once they know the story there is no point in paying for the story. In other words, once you've watched the game be played on YouTube, why pay for it? In many ways they are similar. But even so, people buy songs to listen to more than once, people re-watch TV shows if they were really good. People buy movies on DVD and Blu-Ray to watch again later. Even if games were they same as these other media types, video games are meant to be played. They must be interacted with and experienced first hand for the full impact. People like to customize their own game experience and make their own decisions as they progress through the story. And see what impact those decisions have on the rest of the story. You can't get that feeling, that experience, from a video of someone else playing. 

Advertising logic aside, this is just the direction that the market is going in. Many game developers are perfectly fine with people on YouTube posting videos of their games, and even monetizing it. Xbox and PlayStation now allow players to record their game-play through the console itself and upload it directly to the internet. Everything is about sharing content nowadays. Smartphones allow you to take photos or video and upload it to social media immediately. Even camera companies like Nikon are making cameras that can upload photos to the internet from the device. In a world where the market is inevitably moving to a more free flow of content and content sharing, these certain developers are stuck in the past and trying to stifle this "sharing revolution" if you will. This article on Forbes makes the same point: http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/12/12/another-reason-why-youtubes-video-game-copyright-crackdown-doesnt-make-sense/ 

Don't get me wrong, it's totally within these companies legal rights to have these videos taken down if they want them to. If they don't want people on YouTube to make money from their content, that is their right. But just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should do something, nor does it mean it is the right thing to do from a marketing standpoint. Game developers should be encouraging YouTube channels to make videos about their games. Send them free copies, make sure YouTube is not taking videos down with their content, do whatever they have to do to keep these videos up and encourage more. Because this is beneficial to the channels who make money from Google when they get lots of views, and it is beneficial to the developers because it is incredible amounts of free advertising. It's even beneficial to Google because it leaves more popular videos up that they can charge advertising money for.