Over the years, Nintendo has taken a more protective view of its intellectual property than some other companies, and nowhere is this more true than with the Nintendo Creators Program, which allows YouTube Let's Players to play Nintendo games providing they align with a set of terms and conditions that Nintendo has outlined. However, those within this community have recently been advised of a change to these conditions, and it seems as though Nintendo has clarified that livestreaming of Nintendo titles is not covered by the program.

Nintendo has published a change to the guidelines for the Nintendo Creators Program. Under the Q&A section of the terms and conditions, the publisher has stated the following with regards to live broadcasts from the channel set up for the Creators Program. "Live streaming on YouTube falls outside the scope of the Nintendo Creators Program," states the guideline. "You cannot broadcast content on YouTube Live from the account you have registered to the Nintendo Creators Program."

There are, however, workarounds for those who wish to livestream games from Nintendo without using a channel that has been directly affiliated with the Nintendo Creators Program. Rather than having an entire channel signed on for the program, it is possible for YouTube creators to register on a video-by-video basis with Nintendo - but those livestreams of Nintendo's content would not be signed on for the program regardless.

Here's a rundown of the options available, courtesy of Nintendo:

Live streaming on YouTube falls outside the scope of the Nintendo Creators Program. You cannot broadcast content on YouTube Live from the account you have registered to the Nintendo Creators Program. If you plan to broadcast content on YouTube Live, you have a couple of options. First, you can broadcast content on YouTube Live from a channel that is not registered to the Nintendo Creators Program. Or, you can cancel your channel's registration to the Nintendo Creators Program and instead, register your videos containing Nintendo’s IP to the program separately. Videos which had previously been registered through your channel would need to be reregistered individually.

This could prove to be something of a headache for those who had previously livestreamed Nintendo games, however. First, those that simply registered their entire channel now face the prospect of either setting up a new channel purely for livestreaming - and having to regain followers accordingly - or cancelling the overall registration to the Creators Program and registering videos on an individual basis, including any previously released content.

Given the timing of this move, many within the Nintendo Creator Program have suspected that this is a response to the latest PewDiePie controversy, where the YouTube star used racist language as part of a livestream. After all, it's understandable that Nintendo may want to try and distance itself from content that it cannot directly control, and this would be a step towards that aim. In the meantime, however, it will no doubt be a disappointment for Nintendo-focused YouTube channels hoping for a streamlined way of working with the publisher with live content.

Source: Nintendo