Nintendo has a questionable reputation in regards to fans that contribute to the brand by sharing selfmade work, inspired by Nintendo games. It is not the first time diehard Nintendo fans make creative video’s, Nintendo-themed games or anything else related to Mario, Donkey Kong or Pokemon… and are punished for doing so.

So what is the latest trick Nintendo came up with? Read it down below.

Nintendo sent out an email to Creator’s Program members stating that “Live streaming on YouTube falls outside the scope of the Nintendo Creators Program. This means that you cannot broadcast content on YouTube Live from the account you have registered with the Nintendo Creators Program.” The speculation was confirmed to be true as the Creators Program guidelines have already been updated to reflect this.

To join the Creators Program, a content creator must either register their whole channel or submit individual videos for approval. Those who submit individually receive sixty percent ad revenue, which is ten percent less than entire channels. Video submissions also take 2-3 days for approval.

Registered channels have no alternative. Channels with individual videos can still live stream content without registering. Influencers who want to stream can cancel their full partnership, but they must go and re-register each video to keep earning revenue. Those who do this will receive nothing from live-streaming anyways, so big-time Nintendo streamers must switch to on-demand content entirely. Alternatively, these creators could launch other channels or go stream on different services such as Twitch.

Speculation leads one to wonder if this could be because of the recent PewDiePie situation, where he made a racial slur while live-streaming Player Unknown’s: Battlegrounds. Nintendo likes to assume full control over its Intellectual Properties. By doing this, they are eliminating any chance of offensive content slipping under their radar.

It’s an understandable decision from a business perspective, but this is very limiting for content creators. Live-streaming has exploded over the past couple of years. It only makes sense Nintendo gamers want to join in the craze. One would expect Nintendo is working on an alternative solution, but they have no obligation to do so. Until they do so, influencers have no choice but to stick with pre-recorded content.