Persona 5’s Ridiculous Streaming Policy Goes Against The Spirit Of Gaming

This week, Atlas, the developer/publisher of Persona 5 made it very clear that they don’t want gamers streaming Persona 5 past a certain portion of the game.

It’s not a rare occurrence that these kind of restraints are placed on media, but this incredibly harsh (and almost threatening) warning that you can find below is definitely against the spirit of video games.

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Atlas released a statement earlier today that placed some pretty strict restrictions on streamers. 

Our fans have waited years for the game to come out and we really want to make sure they can experience it fully as a totally new adventure

This being a Japanese title with a single-playthrough story means our masters in Japan are very wary about it. Sharing is currently blocked through the native PS4 UI. However, if you do plan on streaming, video guidelines above apply except length. If you decide to stream past 7/7 (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND NOT DOING THIS, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED), you do so at the risk of being issued a content ID claim or worse, a channel strike/account suspension.

Honestly, I was shocked to read this. The idea behind streaming is that people can go on a journey with their favourite internet personalities. Putting strict guidelines on that seems incredibly unfair to those same fans (most of which have bought the game with their own money) that have waited so long to enjoy the game in whichever way they choose.

In all honesty, it’s up to gamers to decide whether they want to experience the game through a Twitch stream or on their own. The benefit of streamers playing your game is that people become attached to gaming franchises that they’d previously not have even thought of playing and that benefits publishers greatly.

We spoke to a few Australian streamers who are lovers of Persona and Japanese games alike

Jacargon said: “Surely with Nier Automata, Gravity Rush 2 and Yakuza 0 in the past few months gaining exceptional exposure through streaming / videos it would seem Japanese companies would see the benefits to these mediums. Atlus also surely knows that Persona 4 Golden’s success was largely due to people making videos and broadcasting it, the Giantbomb Endurance run is a noteworthy example.”

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DYoshiiTV said: “This streaming policy came as no surprise, Atlus has done this in the past with previous games as well such as Persona 4 Arena and Catherine, but streaming was not so prevalent then. From conversations I’ve had with Japnaese companies/game CEOs in the past, streaming can be viewed as something that ‘hurts sales’. As a result, stuff like this occurs.

I’ll still play the game as far as I can until that 7/7 date, and I am sure I will enjoy it immensely! With so many other games to stream though, I am unsure if I’ll finish it past that, which is a shame as I am sure this game has had a large amount of effort put into it. I imagine other streamers may also run into this problem.’

Honestly, this one Tweet sums up the situation perfectly.