4 ms·

I think we are also seeing an increase in lets plays due to the aging of the gaming population. I'm 31 grew up gaming, spending hundreds of hours each month gam

by Trisell 11y ago

I think we are also seeing an increase in lets plays due to the aging of the gaming population. I'm 31 grew up gaming, spending hundreds of hours each month gaming. Now I have a job 2 kids and a life. I barely have time to watch a movie once a week, let alone sit down and play a game that requires 20-40 hours of game play. Yet I spend most of my work days sitting at a desk writing code with my headphones on. It is much easier to turn on Quill 18 playing xcom, and enjoy the game and his commentary, while working, then it is to try and fit playing xcom into my daily life. Where I play for a week, the put the game down, and having to start over in a month when I have time again, yet don't remember any part of what I was doing. Also the demographics of games are changing. When I was young, I played C&C, games that took more thought, maybe doom. Now kids are waiting for the next call of duty to feed their ADD. While this kind of game is a more mature game aimed at a more mature player, who may not have the time to play it. Blaming the lets play culture seems like an easy thing to blame, but if your targeted demographic is an age group that has increasing less time to game, then seeing that demographic move to a format that you can't monetize, should be a warning to you before you attempt to target that demographic.

ZenoArrow 11y ago
You've got it backwards. They're not blaming the Let's Play culture for existing, and they can see the value these videos add to gaming culture, what they're pointing out is the issues with revenue it currently creates. If the monetisation issue is fixed (they suggested leaving tips) then they can continue making storytelling games, and that appears to be in the interest of Let's Play video creators as well.
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  Yeah. Half-way through reading the post I expected the authors to start passive-aggressive legal threats, or something. Instead, they announced they removed ContentID from the music ( :o ) and only kindly ask the video uploaders to encourage people to tip them a dollar or two... This reaction makes me want to buy the game and tip them just because of their approach to the issue. EDIT: just bought. I don't have time to play it now, but I firmly believe in supporting people doing commendable things just because they do those things.
  - sp332 11y ago
    They're asking viewers to donate, which is a little different :) It's manually fixing the broken revenue sharing with the streamers.
padobson 11y ago
I see Let's Plays as the new shareware, and it could be a very good thing for the developer if approached correctly. The game industry has long struggled with the chicken-egg problem of getting a gamer to make a purchasing decision without actually giving them the whole game to try first. Demo systems like shareware and freemium are some of the more successful solutions to this problem. At the beginning of these models, there was tension because people were getting something for free and might not ever pay for the full game. The counter-argument is that gamers that don't buy the full game after playing the demo were unlikely to have purchased the full game anyhow. Development studios should be looking at Let's Plays like demos, and it sounds like the author is doing that. The problem his team faces is that their game is highly narrative in nature, and once the Let's Play is finished, the viewer of the Let's Play attains the narrative satisfaction and thus has no reason to purchase the game. There's a few ways I can think to combat this, without falling back on copyright laws: For this game: Sell merchandise alongside your game, and buy advertising on the Let's Plays. Furthermore, send free merch to the more popular creators of the Let's Plays, creating more brand awareness and street cred. A good narrative will create bonds between the characters/story and the viewer - find ways to monetize those bonds for those who don't buy the game. For the Let's Players that do interviews, go on their shows and do interviews, or bring them onto your own show and do an interview. Sell merch, sell advertising, and make the same pitch you made in this article for tips. On the next game: Create a demo anyway, and send exclusive, pre-release copies of the demo to the more popular Let's Play creators. Then sell pre-orders of the game, so those who are anxious to experience the full narrative will buy the game. Do your own Let's Plays. In fact, do your own Let's Develop and Play - making realtime changes to the game that users can watch you experience. This will give you a competitive advantage over other Let's Players while also allowing you to vertically integrate the entire revenue stream - game sales, merch sales, and advertising. I think it's clear from the popularity of the Let's Plays that they've created a hit, but a hit that's doesn't have an obvious monetization strategy for a game developer. I say, steer into the skid and find more non-traditional means to monetize.
YeGoblynQueenne 11y ago
>> It is much easier to turn on Quill 18 playing xcom, and enjoy the game and his commentary, while working, then it is to try and fit playing xcom into my daily life. You can always buy the game to support the devs and make sure that there's an xcom 2 (and now, 3) for Quill to play and you to listen to. Nobody's forcing you to also play the game, is what I'm saying.
- sleepychu 11y ago
  It would be much better if the developers realised that they've got an alternate stream of revenue to capitalise on. How much of the official Minecraft merchandise do you think was bought for/by kids who don't have a license/machine capable of playing Minecraft but watch any of the huge number of YouTubers producing content in Minecraft?
  - YeGoblynQueenne 11y ago
    Most games are not Minecraft and so before they can make it to cult status and start making money by monetising their franchise, their developers must be able to make it from one day to another.

by Trisell 11y ago

ZenoArrow 11y ago

You've got it backwards. They're not blaming the Let's Play culture for existing, and they can see the value these videos add to gaming culture, what they're pointing out is the issues with revenue it currently creates. If the monetisation issue is fixed (they suggested leaving tips) then they can continue making storytelling games, and that appears to be in the interest of Let's Play video creators as well.

TeMPOraL 11y ago
Yeah. Half-way through reading the post I expected the authors to start passive-aggressive legal threats, or something. Instead, they announced they removed ContentID from the music ( :o ) and only kindly ask the video uploaders to encourage people to tip them a dollar or two... This reaction makes me want to buy the game and tip them just because of their approach to the issue. EDIT: just bought. I don't have time to play it now, but I firmly believe in supporting people doing commendable things just because they do those things.
- sp332 11y ago
  They're asking viewers to donate, which is a little different :) It's manually fixing the broken revenue sharing with the streamers.

padobson 11y ago

I see Let's Plays as the new shareware, and it could be a very good thing for the developer if approached correctly. The game industry has long struggled with the chicken-egg problem of getting a gamer to make a purchasing decision without actually giving them the whole game to try first. Demo systems like shareware and freemium are some of the more successful solutions to this problem. At the beginning of these models, there was tension because people were getting something for free and might not ever pay for the full game. The counter-argument is that gamers that don't buy the full game after playing the demo were unlikely to have purchased the full game anyhow. Development studios should be looking at Let's Plays like demos, and it sounds like the author is doing that. The problem his team faces is that their game is highly narrative in nature, and once the Let's Play is finished, the viewer of the Let's Play attains the narrative satisfaction and thus has no reason to purchase the game. There's a few ways I can think to combat this, without falling back on copyright laws: For this game: Sell merchandise alongside your game, and buy advertising on the Let's Plays. Furthermore, send free merch to the more popular creators of the Let's Plays, creating more brand awareness and street cred. A good narrative will create bonds between the characters/story and the viewer - find ways to monetize those bonds for those who don't buy the game. For the Let's Players that do interviews, go on their shows and do interviews, or bring them onto your own show and do an interview. Sell merch, sell advertising, and make the same pitch you made in this article for tips. On the next game: Create a demo anyway, and send exclusive, pre-release copies of the demo to the more popular Let's Play creators. Then sell pre-orders of the game, so those who are anxious to experience the full narrative will buy the game. Do your own Let's Plays. In fact, do your own Let's Develop and Play - making realtime changes to the game that users can watch you experience. This will give you a competitive advantage over other Let's Players while also allowing you to vertically integrate the entire revenue stream - game sales, merch sales, and advertising. I think it's clear from the popularity of the Let's Plays that they've created a hit, but a hit that's doesn't have an obvious monetization strategy for a game developer. I say, steer into the skid and find more non-traditional means to monetize.

YeGoblynQueenne 11y ago

>> It is much easier to turn on Quill 18 playing xcom, and enjoy the game and his commentary, while working, then it is to try and fit playing xcom into my daily life. You can always buy the game to support the devs and make sure that there's an xcom 2 (and now, 3) for Quill to play and you to listen to. Nobody's forcing you to also play the game, is what I'm saying.

sleepychu 11y ago
It would be much better if the developers realised that they've got an alternate stream of revenue to capitalise on. How much of the official Minecraft merchandise do you think was bought for/by kids who don't have a license/machine capable of playing Minecraft but watch any of the huge number of YouTubers producing content in Minecraft?
- YeGoblynQueenne 11y ago
  Most games are not Minecraft and so before they can make it to cult status and start making money by monetising their franchise, their developers must be able to make it from one day to another.