A Let's Play (LP) is a video (or
screenshot
A screenshot (also known as screen capture or screen grab) is an analog or digital image that shows the contents of a computer display. A screenshot is created by a (film) camera shooting the screen or the operating system
An operating sys ...
s accompanied by text) documenting the playthrough of a
video game
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
, often including commentary and (in some cases) a camera view of the
gamer
A gamer is someone who plays interactive games, either video games, tabletop role-playing games, skill-based card games, or any combination thereof, and who often plays for extended periods of time. Originally a hobby, gaming has evolved in ...
's face. A Let's Play differs from a
video game walkthrough
A video game walkthrough is a guide aimed towards improving a player's skill within a particular video game and often designed to assist players in completing either an entire video game or specific elements. Walkthroughs may alternatively be se ...
or
strategy guide
Strategy guides are instruction books that contain hints or complete solutions to specific video games. The line between strategy guides and video game walkthroughs is somewhat blurred, with the former often containing or being written around the ...
by focusing on an individual's subjective experience with the game, often with humorous, irreverent, or critical commentary from the player, rather than being an objective source of information on how to progress through the game. While Let's Plays and
live streaming
Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming media, streaming of video or Digital audio, audio in real-time communication, real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature ...
of game playthroughs are related, Let's Plays tend to be curated experiences that include editing and
narration
Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...
, and can be scripted, while streaming is often an unedited experience performed on the fly.
History
From the onset of computer video entertainment, video game players with access to screenshot capture software,
video capture
Video capture is the process of converting an analog video signal—such as that produced by a video camera, DVD player, or television tuner—to digital video and sending it to local storage or to external circuitry. The resulting digital data ...
devices, and
screen recording software
A screencast is a digital recording of computer screen output, also known as a video screen capture or a screen recording, often containing audio narration. The term ''screencast'' compares with the related term ''screenshot''; whereas screenshot ...
have recorded themselves playing through games, often as part of
walkthroughs,
longplays,
speedrun
Speedrunning is the act of playing a video game, or section of a video game, with the goal of completing it as fast as possible. Speedrunning often involves following planned routes, which may incorporate sequence breaking and exploit glitch ...
s, or other digital entertainment formats. For example, within the French show ''Level One'' on the video game-centric
Game One
Game One is a French television channel owned by Paramount Networks EMEAA. The channel shows several programs based on video gaming. It also airs Japanese anime on a regular basis.
In Germany between 2006 and 2014, a television show about video ...
from 1998 to 2002, where host played through the early levels of games with commentary added by himself and sometimes a guest. Another example is the Japanese television program ''
GameCenter CX
, also known as ''Retro Game Master'' in other regions, is a Japanese gaming-variety show television program produced by Fuji Television and . The name is a combination of "game center" (the Japanese term for an arcade) and Fuji TV's call sign ...
'', launched in 2003, where the host challenged to complete retro games within a single day, and others like Skip Rodgers had provided VHS tapes describing to players how to complete difficult games.
One such form these took was the addition of running commentary, typically humorous in nature, along with the screenshots or videos; video-based playthroughs would typically be presented without significant editing to maintain the raw response the players had to the game.
The presenter would also often poll readers or viewers with the in-game decisions as to provide an element of interactivity for the audience.
Though others had used the same approach at the time, the forums at the website
Something Awful
''Something Awful'' (SA) is an American comedy website hosting content including blog entries, Internet forum, forums, feature articles, digitally edited pictures, and humorous media reviews. It was created by Richard Kyanka, Richard "Lowtax" K ...
are credited with coming up with the term "Let's Play" in 2007 to describe such playthroughs.
The exact origins of the term are unclear, but believed to be about a screenshot playthrough of ''
The Oregon Trail'' via the Something Awful forums sometime in 2005; the playthrough can no longer be found on the site, but has been referenced by other forum threads.
The format of Let's Plays is credited to Something Awful forum user Michael Sawyer under his username alias "
Slowbeef".
Sawyer stated that the format he adopted came from an earlier playthrough by forum user "Vlaphor" for ''
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" is a post-apocalyptic short story by American writer Harlan Ellison. It was first published in the March 1967 issue of ''IF: Worlds of Science Fiction''.
The story is set against the backdrop of World War ...
''.
Sawyer's adaption would become the format that future Something Awful users would subsequently use.
Sawyer is also credited for creating the first video playthrough for the game ''
The Immortal'' which he made alongside his screenshot playthrough.
From there, the format was popular with other forum users and many Let's Plays were created; the forum established a process to create these and the development of a large archive of Let's Plays.
With the onset of user-created video streaming websites like
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
and
Twitch
Twitch may refer to:
Biology
* Muscle contraction
** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation
** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction
** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...
, more users have been able to prepare and share such videos, making the Let's Play format widely popular, spreading beyond the Something Awful forums.
Contemporary

Let's Play videos are similar to a player completing a game via
streaming video
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting ...
for an audience. According to Patrick Lee of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'', a good Let's Play video distinguishes itself from straightforward streaming playthroughs when the player has sufficiently familiarized themselves with the game as to be able to offer better commentary and show off more of the game to their audience, is able to provide the audience with personal recollections about the game, or can play through a game they have already completed under self-imposed challenges, such as completing a game without killing any enemies. Through this approach, Lee states, such Let's Play videos serve to help memorialize these games, helping those who may not have access to the titles (due to age or regional restrictions) to appreciate more obscure games.
Some of the more popular gamers that create these videos have become Internet celebrities and seen as a type of "professional fan", according to Maker Studios' Dar Nothaft; other gamers tune into these videos to get a different perspective on games rather than professional review sources.
Felix Kjellberg, known by his online pseudonym
PewDiePie
Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg (born 24 October 1989), better known as PewDiePie, is a Swedish YouTuber, best known for his gaming videos. Kjellberg's popularity on YouTube and extensive media coverage have made him one of the most noted online pe ...
, has monetized his "Let's Play" videos which reach over 40 million subscribers and over 10 billion views, .
PewDiePie's influence on game sales has been considerable, and games that are featured in Let's Plays on his channel frequently see large boosts in sales, creating what is called "the PewDiePie effect".
Some other people or groups include
Achievement Hunter
Achievement Hunter was an American video gaming division of Rooster Teeth Productions. Founded by Geoff Ramsey and Jack Pattillo on July 6, 2008, the website was originally based on the achievement mechanic in video games but grew to become ...
,
The Yogscast
Yogscast Limited, also known as The Yogscast, is a British entertainment company based in Bristol that primarily produces video gaming-related videos on YouTube and Twitch, and also operates the Yogscast multi-channel network for affiliated ...
,
Smosh Games,
Chuggaaconroy
Emiliano Rodolfo Rosales-Birou (born April 8, 1990), also known as Emile Rosales and better known by his online alias Chuggaaconroy or Chugga for short, is an American YouTuber, Internet personality and Let's Player. Starting his online career ...
,
Jacksepticeye,
Markiplier
Mark Edward Fischbach ( ; born June 28, 1989), known online as Markiplier, is an American YouTuber, filmmaker, and actor. One of the most popular YouTubers on the platform, he is known for his "Let's Play" videos of indie horror games. He wa ...
,
DanTDM,
''
Game Grumps
''GameGrumps'' is an American Let's Play web series hosted by Arin Hanson (2012–present) and Dan Avidan (2013–present). Created in 2012 by co-hosts Hanson and Jon Jafari, the series centers around its hosts playing video games. After Jafa ...
'',
Stampylonghead and
Machinima.com.
Such Let's Plays are monetized by ad revenue from the video hosting site. For example, standard Google
affiliate program
Affiliate marketing is a marketing arrangement in which affiliates receive a commission for each visit, signup or sale they generate for a merchant. This arrangement allows businesses to outsource part of the sales process. It is a form of per ...
s pay approximately 55% of the price paid by advertisers to the content provider, while Google retains the rest; as such, revenue from Let's Play channel are based on the number of viewers they obtain. Providers can also join various content networks like
Maker Studios
Maker(s) or The Maker(s) may refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Maker'' (film), a 1997 American drama film
* Maker Studios, now part of Disney Digital Network, an American multi-channel TV network
*''Makers'', a 2014 British documentary seri ...
, which offer promotion and advertising for content providers in exchange for a share of the ad revenue. PewDiePie's monthly revenue from his Let's Plays are estimated to be between $140,000 and $1.4 million, while smaller channels can still earn between $500 and $1000 a month;
the ''
Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' reported that PewDiePie made over $4 million in 2013,
while ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' ranked him the highest earning
YouTube personality
A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 200 ...
in 2015, earning over $12 million a year before taxes. As of 2018, some of these top earners made between a year.
Several of these individual Let's Players, as they are called, have transformed this into a full-time career while learning skills such as communications and video editing that can be used for future jobs.
More popular broadcasters often share part of their revenue for charitable efforts, or hold charity drives while they play through games for a live audience. PewDiePie's contribution in this area led to him being listed as one of thirty most influential people on the Internet in a March 2015 list, and as one of the top 100 influential people overall in an April 2016 list, both compiled by ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine. ''
Business Insider
''Business Insider'' (stylized in all caps: BUSINESS INSIDER; known from 2021 to 2023 as INSIDER) is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Inside ...
'' reported that eleven of the top twenty most-subscribed, independent YouTube publishers as of November 2014 are those that produce Let's Play videos. An October 2017 report from SuperData Researched estimated that between Let's Play videos and live streaming content of game video content, there were more people watching such videos than compared to all subscribers of
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
,
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
,
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
, and
Hulu
Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...
combined, with over 517 million YouTube users and 185 million Twitch users.
Let's Play videos have been considered a favorable way to market game titles, in particularly for smaller developers. In one case for ''
Thomas Was Alone'',
Mike Bithell, its developer, attributed the success of the game to a Let's Play video by game commentator and critic
John Bain, also known as TotalBiscuit. Similarly, ''
Davey Wreden'', the developer of ''
The Stanley Parable
''The Stanley Parable'' is a 2013 story-based video game designed and written by developers Davey Wreden and William Pugh (game designer), William Pugh. The game carries themes such as choice in video games, the relationship between a game cre ...
'' developed a relationship with various Let's Play channels prior to the release to assure they could play and record his game; his team further created specialized demos for two popular channels (
Rev3Games and ''Steam Train'') that jokingly teased the specific players. Wreden believes this helped lead to the over 100,000 sales of the full game within the first three days of release.
Some developers have designed their games to be favorable for Let's Play videos. The developers of ''
Octodad: Dadliest Catch'' aimed to have the game covered by Let's Play videos by "creat
nga lot of room where there are a lot of different options for a player to create their own comedy and put their own personality into that".
The popularity of Let's Play and similar video commentaries have also led to changes in how some video games have been developed. The Let's Play approach favors games that are quirky and idiosyncratic that draw viewer attention, making some developers aim for these qualities in their games. It also helps for games in
early access
Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release Software release life cycle, developm ...
or beta release cycles as developers from such games can use these videos for feedback to improve their games prior to full release. The Let's Play videos also can bring in more attention to a niche title than traditional gaming press. The developers behind ''
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
''PUBG: Battlegrounds'' (previously known as ''PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds'') is a 2017 battle royale video game published by Krafton, and developed by Krafton's PUBG Studios. The game, which was inspired by the Japanese film '' Battle Ro ...
'' and ''
Hello Neighbor
''Hello Neighbor'' is a stealth game developed by Dynamic Pixels and published by tinyBuild. Initially released as public alphas from 2016 to 2017, it received a full release for Windows and Xbox One on December 8, 2017, and later for PlayStati ...
'', rather than try to aim for attracting attention from the major Let's Play creators like PewDiePie, instead used an approach of gaining interest from several mid-level creators to help with drawing attention to their games during their early access period, with considerable success.
Some games such as ''
Goat Simulator'' and ''
I am Bread'' are considered by critics and players to have been purposely made to be the subject of Let's Plays on popular channels as to drive interest in an otherwise-lackluster game, and are usually derided as "YouTube bait".
Survival horror
Survival horror is a Video game genre, subgenre of horror games. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel less in control than in typical action games through limited ammunition or weapons, health, speed, and visio ...
games, such as ''
Five Nights at Freddy's
''Five Nights at Freddy's'' (''FNaF'') is a video game series and media franchise created by Scott Cawthon that includes video games, novels, graphic novels, and films. The story arcs typically follow a night guard or other character trying t ...
'' and its sequels, which focus more on immersion than skill, are considered tailor-made to take advantage of Let's Play videos and other live-streaming play, as the games' design is aimed to shock the streaming users, providing humorous reactions such as
jump scare
A jump scare (also written jump-scare and jumpscare) is a scaring technique used in media, particularly in horror fiction such as horror films and horror games, intended to scare the viewer by surprising them with a creepy face or object, usually ...
s that are a source of entertainment for viewers. This also provides a way for people who would not normally play such games for the discomfort of being scared by the game to find enjoyment in watching the reaction someone else has while playing it.
The developers of both ''
Amnesia: The Dark Descent'' and ''
Outlast
''Outlast'' is a 2013 first-person psychological survival horror video game developed and published by Canadian independent studio Red Barrels. It revolves around freelance investigative journalist Miles Upshur, who decides to investigate Moun ...
'' stated that Let's Plays of their games helps to make them successful considering that in neither case did they have a large promotional budget.
In at least one case, the popularity of a game featured in Let's Plays has led to further sales far after the game's typical shelf-life has expired. In 2014,
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
opted to print more copies of the 2010 title ''
Skate 3
''skate 3'' is a 2010 skateboarding video game, the third installment in the '' skate'' series and the sequel to 2009's '' skate 2'', developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. It was released worldwide in May 2010 for PlayStati ...
'' after its appearance on PewDiePie's and other Let's Play channels have kept sales of the game high, keeping it in the top 40 sales charts for new games in the United Kingdom and with its 2014 sales being 33% higher than its 2013 sales.
Let's Plays can also be seen harming a game's distribution particularly for short, linear, narrative-driven games since viewers can witness the entire game from a Let's Play recording without purchasing it and have no incentive to purchase the title.
For the art game ''
That Dragon, Cancer'', its developer Ryan Green noted that while there were Let's Plays of the game, several of which commented emotionally on the game's topic, some of these playthroughs had simply played through the game without added commentary, and provided no links to where players could learn more about the title. Green and his team at Numinous Games had used YouTube's ContentID to have some of these videos taken down, a result that brought some complaints and which Green admitted later was not the right approach to address the issue. Green requested that with games such as ''That Dragon, Cancer'', that those creating Let's Play use the playthrough of the game to initiate conversations with their viewers, and that viewers could show their appreciation of the game by tipping the developers in lieu of purchasing the full title.
The phenomenon of Let's Plays was a focal point for the ''
South Park
''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...
'' episode "
#REHASH".
Double Fine Productions
Double Fine Productions, Inc. is an American video game developer based in San Francisco, California. It is a first-party developer of Xbox Game Studios. Founded in July 2000 by Tim Schafer shortly after his departure from LucasArts, Double F ...
and
2 Player Productions have worked together to create a series called "Devs Play", inspired by Let's Plays where game developers play through games and offer their commentary from a developer's perspective, typically alongside one of the developers from the selected game.
Legal issues
Copyright
The copyright nature of "Let's Play" videos remains in question; while the developer or publisher of games typically possess the copyright and granted exclusive distribution rights on the media assets of the game, others cite
fair use
Fair use is a Legal doctrine, doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to bal ...
claims for these works as their nature is to provide commentary on the video game. An important distinction for Let's Plays to qualify as fair use would be their
transformative nature; the more that the Let's Play creator or
streamer adds as commentary atop the gameplay, the more likely that it would be ruled as fair use. However, copyright law favors the game developer or publisher; if challenged, the Let's Play creator would have to argue in court for a fair use defense, which can be costly to pursue. There have been no known cases of Let's Plays challenged in legal systems, keeping their legal nature in question.
Sites that host Let's Plays have sometimes sent a
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or ...
(DMCA)
takedown notice to streamers, at the behest of the copyright holders of the video game. However, in practice, game companies "tacitly permit YouTubers to violate their copyrights, with creators and publishers turning a blind eye out of consideration of the promotional value of being featured on high-audience channels". Sites that host user-created Let's Plays tend to favor the copyright holders to maintain their
safe harbor status as
part of their liability protection within the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or ...
(DMCA); for example, YouTube uses both manual and automated systems to detect copyright infringement and issues
copyright strikes to offending channels.

In May 2013, Nintendo registered Let's Play content of their games through YouTube's
Content ID
Content ID is a digital fingerprinting system developed by Google which is used to easily identify and manage copyrighted content on YouTube. Videos uploaded to YouTube are compared against audio and video files registered with Content ID by co ...
system such that they could generate ad revenue from user videos;
several Nintendo based Let's Play personalities such as Chuggaaconroy,
MasaeAnela and ZackScottGames
were initially affected by Nintendo's Content ID policy during this time. Nintendo would eventually cease such claims, and later created its own affiliate program, the Nintendo Creators program, between themselves, Google, and proactive uploaders to split profits. Smaller developers have been more open to allowing Let's Play videos.
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...
has stated that it allows its games to be used in Let's Play videos and allows for those making them to monetize from any ad revenue as long they stay within certain content-appropriateness guidelines.
Microsoft Studios
Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, fo ...
similarly created a set of Game Content Usage Rules that sets certain requirements and limitations on those using its software for Let's Play videos.
In early December 2013, a change in YouTube's
Content ID
Content ID is a digital fingerprinting system developed by Google which is used to easily identify and manage copyrighted content on YouTube. Videos uploaded to YouTube are compared against audio and video files registered with Content ID by co ...
policy caused many existing Let's Play and other video-game related material to be blocked. In response, many developers and publishers issued statements and worked with YouTube to assure such videos were not meant to be blocked, helping those whose videos were affected, and encouraging users to continue to show these; these companies included
Blizzard
A blizzard is a severe Winter storm, snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow th ...
,
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...
,
Capcom
is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...
,
Paradox Interactive
Paradox Interactive AB is a video game publisher based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company started out as the video game division of Target Games and then Paradox Entertainment (now Cabinet Entertainment) before being spun out into an independ ...
, and
Valve
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...
. YouTube later clarified that the change in the ContentID system that caused videos to be flagged was likely a result of new tools it made available for multi-channel networks, which can cover separate video and audio copyrights. At least two known music multi-channel networks, TuneCore and INDmusic, who represent many video game music composers and artists, had automatically enabled the copyright protection for all of its clients without seeking their input, and as such, many of the Let's Play videos as well as the game developers' own promotional videos were blocked due to these actions. YouTube states they do not plan to change this system despite complaints from the original music composers. The streaming website Twitch implemented a similar copyright control approach that would mute recorded streams for up to half-hour blocks if copyrighted music was discovered in August 2014, which was found to have the same problems with blocking Let's Plays that used original game music. This prompted Twitch to alter the method to reduce false positive and provide ways for users to challenge such claims.
Some games which have used licensed music, such as ''
Concrete Jungle'' and ''
Quantum Break
''Quantum Break'' is a 2016 action-adventure third-person shooter video game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Microsoft Studios for Windows and Xbox One. The game centers on Jack Joyce ( Shawn Ashmore), granted time manipulat ...
'', have provided a game option that disables licensed music playback or replaces this music with copyright-free music, making the games "stream-safe" to avoid being tagged as copyright infringing. In other cases, music licenses sites now consider the impact of Let's Plays on the video game marketing cycle, and offer broader licensing options for their music that includes their legal use in Let's Play for that game, and assurances that any Let's Plays tagged with ContentID violations would be remedied. Even though these can be resolved, the time it takes to clear the ContentID claim can be costly to Let's Play broadcasters as they lose advertising revenue on the video while it is offline, as well as losing impact for the developer and publisher of the game. Pinokl Games and
tinyBuild
tinyBuild Inc. is an American Video game publisher, publisher of indie games based in Bellevue, Washington. The company was established by Alex Nichiporchik and Tom Brien in 2011 to expand Brien's game ''No Time to Explain'' into a commercial ...
, the developers and publishers, respectively, of ''
Party Hard'', had found Let's Plays of their game hit frequently with ContentID claims that were resolved by the music licensing service; they opted to craft a new YouTube-friendly soundtrack for this purpose to avoid these.
In 2022, the video game ''
Cookie's Bustle'' had a resurgence after persistent use of the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or ...
to remove traces of the game's existence off of the internet. According to the International Online Copyright Office (Interoco) a specific copyright for the "Cookie's Bustle Gameplay Concept" was filed on January 23, 2022.
In May 2023, a Japanese YouTuber was arrested by Miyagi Prefectural Police for uploading gameplay videos of the visual novel ''
Steins;Gate: My Darling's Embrace'', as well as summary videos for the ''
Spy × Family
''Spy × Family'' (stylized as ''SPY×FAMILY'' and pronounced "spy family") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuya Endo. The story follows Loid Forger, an enigmatic spy who has to "build a family" to execute a missio ...
'' and ''
Steins;Gate
''Steins;Gate'' is a 2009 science fiction visual novel game developed by 5pb. and Nitroplus. It is the second game in the ''Science Adventure'' series, following ''Chaos;Head''. The story follows a group of students as they discover and develop ...
'' anime shows. According to
Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA), the issue in relation to gameplay was both because official guidelines restrict gameplay videos of the game to about one hour (including the ending) and because the videos were monetized; violating Japanese law of making money from copyrighted content.
Promotion and disclosure
Another legal issue related to Let's Play is disclosure. More popular YouTube channels will sometimes receive free promotional copies of games from developers and publishers in advance of release to promote the title. According to the US
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...
, players that review or create commentary for such games should disclose the game if they subsequently make money from the review to stay within ethical business practices. In one specific scenario,
John Bain, who has previously argued for clear disclosure of paid reviews, has revealed that he and several others were approached by Plaid Social, a marketing outlet for
Warner Bros. Entertainment
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
and offered promotional copies of the upcoming ''
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor'' in exchange for meeting very specific tasks in their presentation. Bain refused on these terms, but other commentators had taken the deal without disclosure of the deal, raising the issue of how many of these works were made through paid reviews.
If an advertiser or marketer is offering to someone to write a favorable review, should be disclosed somewhere that is quite visible. According to Mary Engle, associate director for Advertising Practices at the
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...
(FTC), "disclosure should basically be unavoidable by the viewer. Perhaps the most important line to note. If a viewer doesn't automatically see or hear the disclosure without having to go hunting for it, it's not legal disclosure". In the aforementioned situation with Plaid Social and Warner Bros., the FTC issued a fine against the two companies, which with Warner Bros. settled in July 2016 and agreed to new regulations that would fine them in the future should such sponsored videos not be disclosed. A similar situation arose as a result of the
skin gambling
In video games, skin gambling (also known as skin betting) is the use of virtual goods, often cosmetic in-game items such as " skins", as virtual currency to bet on the outcome of professional matches or on other games of chance. It is common ...
issues raised in mid-2016, with the FTC further refining its guidelines related to promotional advertising on social media in September 2017.
Other issues
In some cases, developers or publishers have used the DMCA to take down Let's Plays and other videos that are highly critical of a game, using the copyright provisions in the DMCA to override free speech or
fair use
Fair use is a Legal doctrine, doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to bal ...
aspects allowed for by the law. A noted case is that of
Digital Homicide Studios
Digital Homicide Studios L.L.C. was an American video game developer based in Yuma, Arizona. James and Robert Romine founded the company in 2014 and released poorly received games in quick succession. The studio produced roughly sixty games u ...
against game critic
James Stephanie Sterling. Sterling had posted a let's play of Digital Homicide's ''The Slaughtering Grounds'' (2014) that noted numerous flaws in the game and called it as a potentially the worst game of 2014. Digital Homicide used a DMCA request to remove Sterling's video; Sterling was able file a counterclaim to restore the video. The action led to Digital Homicide's James Romine filing a $15 million
defamation
Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...
lawsuit against Sterling and 100
Steam
Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...
users that left negative reviews of the game. The cases were ultimately dismissed or withdrawn.
DMCA claims have also been threatened or used to remove Let's Plays of games owned by a company who do not agree with ideals or morals of the person creating the video. In September 2017, Kjellberg blurted out a racist insult while live-streaming a game to viewers, later apologizing for this; this followed previous incidents of where Kjellberg's on-screen behavior had been criticized.
Campo Santo's founder Sean Vanaman was dismayed by this, and issued a DMCA notice to takedown Kjellberg's Let's Play of their game ''
Firewatch
''Firewatch'' is an adventure game developed by Campo Santo (company), Campo Santo and published by the developer in partnership with Panic Inc., Panic. The game was released in February 2016 for Linux, OS X, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox ...
'', stating that having their game shown on his YouTube channel was the equivalent of endorsing his ideologies; YouTube complied with this request a few days later.
Vanaman later clarified that his goal was not to censor Kjellberg, but that there is a "bad fit" between Kjellberg's views and Campo Santo's views and would prefer that Kjellberg not cover his games. Lawyers and legal experts speaking to ''
Kotaku
''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.
History ...
'', ''
The Verge
''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...
'' and ''
PC Gamer
''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games m ...
'' believed that content owners like Campo Santo have full control to issue DMCA takedowns under the law, but whether these takedowns are valid under fair use defense within copyright law is unclear, since to this point there has been no case law to challenge the legality of Let's Plays and other video game video walkthroughs or challenges to DMCA takedowns for this type of content. Kjellberg did not plan to counter the DMCA claim but pointed out that the use of DMCA to take down videos due to issues other than related to copyright has a potential for abuse by game developers and publishers and affect the current balance of the value of Let's Plays in game promotion and marketing.
Trademark
Sony Computer Entertainment of America
Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game console ...
attempted to
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...
the term "Let's Play" as applied to streaming and broadcasting of video games in the latter part of 2015, but the request was preliminarily denied by the
United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency in the United States Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark ...
citing an existing trademark. The MacArthur Law Firm, a firm specializing in video game legal matters, filed a formal petition to the Patent and Trademark office, citing that the denial should have been based on the claim that "Let's Play" has become a
generic trademark
A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, because of its popularity or significance, has become the generic term for, or synonymous with, a general class of products or ...
and any further attempts to trademark the term should be denied. The Patent and Trademark office agreed, stating that the term "Let's Play" is now too generic to be trademarked.
See also
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Actual play
Actual play, also called live play, is a genre of podcast or web show in which people play tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) for an audience. Actual play often encompasses in-character interactions between players, storytelling from the gam ...
*
Game demo
A game demo is a trial version of a video game that is limited to a certain time period or a point in progress. A game demo comes in forms such as shareware, demo discs, downloadable software, and tech demos.
Distribution
In the early 1990s, ...
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Game replay
A game replay, also known as a demo, is a form of user-generated content. In most instances, a game replay is a recording of a battle or race between opponents in a video game which can then be viewed by other players. However, game replays are al ...
*
Video game live streaming
The live streaming of video games is an activity where people broadcast themselves playing games to a live audience online. The practice became popular in the mid-2010s on the US-based site Twitch, before growing to YouTube, Facebook, China-b ...
*
YouTuber
A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...
References
External links
{{Commons category
The Let's Play Archive
Video game terminology
Video game culture
YouTube
Internet terminology
Articles containing video clips
2007 neologisms