How is Nintendo so bad at letting creators share its games?

Fandom is at the center of millions upon millions of YouTube videos–and gamers are especially passionate fans. So why is Nintendo so reluctant to let creators talk about its games?

The Kyoto, Japan-based game developer known for producing iconic video game IPs like The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario and Super Smash Bros., Pokémon, Donkey Kong, Kirby, and many, many more, has a contentious history with content creators. Back in YouTube’s early days, when creators’ Let’s Plays were making games like Minecraft and Five Nights at Freddy’s into cultural zeitgeists that still churn out billions of views a month, Nintendo was busy copyright claiming any videos about its IPs. It would take 100% of revenue from those videos, and creators, understandably frustrated, had begun scaling back their Nintendo uploads, talking less and less about the games they loved.

Nintendo sort of sought to remedy this in 2015 with the introduction of a Creators Program, which would give approved creators between 60% and 70% of their ad revenue from videos about Nintendo games. Nintendo would receive all the AdSense from videos, take its 30-40% cut, then disburse the rest to creators. (And don’t forget that 30-40% cut was after YouTube took its own 45% cut.) There were significant limits to this program—like, for example, creators weren’t allowed to livestream any gameplay from Nintendo IPs—but creators were relieved to finally have an approved way to make money from their Nintendo videos.

Until 2018, when Nintendo shut the program down. The company said that, instead of the program, it would roll out an agreement where any creator who was in the YouTube Partner Program and/or a partnered streamer on Twitch would be automatically eligible to earn ad revenue on their Nintendo videos.

“As long as you follow some basic rules, we will not object to your use of gameplay footage and/or screenshots captured from games for which Nintendo owns the copyright in the content you create for appropriate video and image sharing sites,” Nintendo said at the time.

That was six years ago, and creators still cite issues with getting copyright strikes from Nintendo. We here at Tubefilter have spoken to prolific Nintendo creators like PointCrow and Austin John, both of whom told us they’ve made significant changes to their content approaches and editing because of Nintendo’s rules. PointCrow (who made headlines last year after his goldfish beat one of Elden Ring’s hardest bosses) moved away from Nintendo content altogether because it copyright claimed his videos where he modified games like Zelda, and John told us he had to learn to “dance around” while editing his videos, because though Nintendo says gameplay footage is fine, it copyright claims things like in-game sound cues.

Now, another YouTuber, Retro Game Corps, has said he’ll no longer show Nintendo games in his videos after getting two copyright strikes from the company. Getting a third would mean the permanent termination of his channel.

Retro Game Corps focuses on, as you probably guessed, retro games. It has just over 550,000 subscribers, and discusses gaming systems and video games of bygone eras, but also covers modern gaming devices that emulate the classic experience. These emulators allow people to play games for systems that are no longer in production, or aren’t easily available—systems like Nintendo’s 3DS and Wii U, both of which were discontinued and had their online play servers shut down this past April.

As retro gaming outlet Time Extension points out, emulators can be legally dicey, as they often come preloaded with old games. But they’re also sometimes the only accessible way to play these games, hardware-wise, and if a creator is showing Nintendo games on an emulator in a video, that doesn’t mean the game was pirated.

Retro Game Corps owner Russ thinks he caught Nintendo’s eye because he made a video about a device that lets people play Switch games (where many Nintendo titles are released) on their PC instead. He then made a second video about the Wii U where he showed Nintendo content being played on an emulator console.

Nintendo filed a claim on both videos, and he received two copyright strikes.

“It does appear that my worst fears are true, and that I am being specifically targeted by Nintendo,” he wrote in a Community post on his channel. “My Wii U video was taken down and I received another copyright strike, even though this showcase video was no different than all of the tech demos and reviews I have made on this channel previously.”

He goes on to say he’s considering filing a counter-claim under fair use, since the video is “for educational use, transformative in nature, and had no [effect] on the market–it was a demonstration of a console no longer for sale.” But he’s “reluctant to open that can of worms with a multi-billion dollar corporation, as their next step would be to file legal action,” he adds.

So what’s a Nintendo fan to do? Russ says he’s planning to scrub Nintendo content from his videos moving forward, so as not to draw Nintendo’s ire.

“I know this is disappointing news, but with now two strikes on my channel, I don’t really have any other choice except to adjust accordingly,” he said. “Thanks for your understanding.”

Nintendo may not like people using emulators, but does a creator simply showing a Nintendo game being played on one of these devices break the game company’s rules? Is it actually copyright claimable? We’re not sure–but we do know that Nintendo actively discouraging creators from talking about its games in their content isn’t a smart move long-term. Sure, it may be willing to put its license on destinations like a Mario cafe, but it’s losing cultural ground to companies like Disney who are porting their characters into Fortnite and letting creators (and, crucially, young players) go hogwild making videos that are essentially free promo.