You know that a developer or publisher has blown straight past "stupid" and gone to "potato" when they start dictating what people can and cannot talk about, write about, or (in these modern times) stream about with regards to a game. Japanese publisher ATLUS has officially gone potato. A note on their site about streaming restrictions for Persona 5 was mentioned on Kotaku very recently, indicating their willingness to use DMCA takedown notices and YouTube copyright strikes for any streamers who presented their playthrough past a certain point in the game.
Allow me a moment, before I bring my bile and vitriol to bear, to explain that ATLUS has been one of those publishers that I really like as a general rule, though I've been kind of less enamored with them more recently. I deeply enjoyed the Atelier Iris series on the PS2, and I was so thoroughly hooked on Mana Khemia that it probably didn't leave my console for a good six months. The later Atelier series entries on PS3 didn't quite have the same level of fun. And while I've admired the character designs for the Persona series for a while, I could never find a good entry point into the series. Additionally, I can understand and to some extent agree with the idea of review embargos for gaming press sites prior to the release of a certain title. Folks who've read my work previously, though, know I'm death on the idea of other people being told what they can and cannot talk about, particularly when it comes streaming gameplay sessions and video-based reviews (Shadows of Mordor being one of my particular favorite "bad examples").
So imagine my surprise when I see this notice on ATLUS' website. Imagine the moment of "WTF?" when I see dictates about how long videos are "allowed" to be. Imagine the sense of "are you fucking serious?!" when I see which boss battles are "permitted" to be shown. Essentially, ATLUS has decreed (for American audiences) that you can only show off the first third of the game or so. The bit at the end of their laundry list about how Persona 5 is a special case and that they're discussing how their policies are going to evolve is so mealymouthed I want to line up ATLUS execs and pistolwhip them.
I get that Persona 5 is essentially a linear experience. I understand that while individual choices within the game may vary, the storyline is unchanged. I submit to you that if your game is that tied down, if its story is so locked in that you have only the illusion of choice instead of choices which have consequences, your game sucks. Admittedly, Mana Khemia had a storyline that was linear. From a replayability standpoint, it wasn't the best. Yet I never felt like I was tied down. I knew that a lot of the secret to advancing was figuring out alchemy recipes, crafting the best possible gear with the resources available, and building up characters to the point where they could handle the boss fights.
What makes this particularly annoying is that the game's already been out in Japan for several months by this point. For the truly obsessive fan, it doesn't matter that the text and voiceover is in Japanese. They want to see those boss battles later in the game, they will sit through the entire thing no matter what language is being spoken. They may not understand a word the characters are saying, but they'll be super excited all the same. For all I know, there's fans of the series so devoted that they've been learning Japanese just to hear the original voiceover lines.
I get that ATLUS wants to try and "preserve" sales by keeping things under wraps. But this is not the way to go about it. Once you put out a game, it's out in the world. It is officially out of your hands. Yes, you can stop people from making knockoff games using your assets. But you can't stop people from talking about boss fights. You sure as hell can't think you're going to stop them from putting "let's play"-type videos out. If they're not going up on YouTube and Twitch, they'll be in Pastebins listed on 4chan. ATLUS needs to be reminded of the "audience principle." If you insult and accost them, then you have no audience.
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