The Nintendo Creators Program, a program meant to moderate what folks were doing with the company’s content on YouTube, is closing down next year. Three years after its contentious debut, the program will cease operations on March 20, 2019.
Nintendo said in a statement: “We are ending the Nintendo Creators Program (NCP) to make it easier for content creators to make and monetize videos that contain Nintendo game content. We will no longer ask creators to submit their videos to the NCP, and creators can continue showing their passion for Nintendo by following Nintendo’s guidelines.”
“We encourage you to create videos that include your creative input and commentary. Videos and images that contain mere copies of Nintendo Game Content without creative input or commentary are not permitted. You may, however, post gameplay videos and screenshots using Nintendo system features, such as the Capture Button on Nintendo Switch, without additional input or commentary.”
In place of the program will be a simple set of guidelines that more closely match the approach of Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo stated it still can and will take down videos that it believes break these guidelines. Content creators who monetize their videos on platforms like YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, NicoNico Live or Twitter can still go ahead and post videos of games.
The Nintendo Creators Program, which launched in 2015, granted registered users 60 percent of the advertising revenue for videos containing content from Nintendo games. The system worked in parallel with a second agreement with YouTube, where videos with a certain amount of Nintendo content would be flagged. In order to keep their videos live, creators would add Nintendo advertisements to their videos, with proceeds from those videos being split between Nintendo and YouTube.
The program originally drew criticism from content creators and community figures as the rules surrounding monetization were seen as too restrictive and harsh. Many YouTubers were flagged for copyright claims on their videos, which led to them to being demonetized by YouTube’s system. Nintendo also restricted live streaming, even for users who were part of the official program and playing one of the approved games — even if it was for non-monetized purposes.
By: Maytinee Kramer
