Is Targeting Your Influencers a Bad Business Move? This Blogger Thinks So
As a video game fan, a lifelong video game fan, I'm very involved in the gaming community and have been since I first set foot on the internet.
Most of my Youtube subscriptions are gaming channels. Because I love to watch Let's Plays and that's also how I find out about different games or decide if I myself want to play those games. Not to mention the fact that I'm on the lower end of the income bracket so sometimes this is the only way I'll ever experience some games until I can stabilize my income and be able to afford to treat myself to the newest gaming systems and titles. I know for a lot of other gaming enthusiasts this is the case as well.
That being said, color me surprised when one of my favorite gaming channels, Kubzscouts posts their second episode of Persona 5 Let's Play and they inform us viewers that Atlus, the company who produces these games, has placed a strict ban on streaming and posting videos of the game past a certain point and also placed strict rules about the length of the videos that these creators can post. They stated that if their rules are not followed, copyright strikes will be issued which can lead to people losing their channels and therefore losing their daily income. That's messing with people's livelihoods. Now, as we've established at the beginning of this post, it's your influencers who bring in most of your customers nowadays. That's just a fact of the business in the age of information and internet. That's why most makeup companies are sending out PR Packages to every beauty guru. They want that influencer seal of approval to bring in new customers. What's sad is that a lot of video game companies aren't getting that message. There's still this feeling of disconnect within the gaming community between Let's Players and the video game creators. A lot of times they don't see eye to eye and things like this situation crop up that drives an even bigger wedge in an already pretty hostile environment.
Now, Atlus said that these rules are to prevent spoilers for people who want to play the game but as both I and many other people have noted, that's a non-issue as most people who watch these videos and livestreams choose when and where we stop watching if we do in fact not want spoilers. We're not toddlers who need someone to hold our hand while making a decision. We know what we're getting into when we watch these videos. No need to worry. Um, also, the game has been out for over six months in Japan. If we haven't run into spoilers by now with the whole game already being online then we're not going to let a Youtube video spoil it for us either. What many people think this is really about is forcing people to buy the game and thinking that this ban will do that. I'm here to say Atlus, that you may have done the opposite.
Gamers are a testy bunch and if you piss them off they will turn their back on you and take their business elsewhere. Because here's the thing, the people that we're/are going to buy the game were going to do that anyway. Let's Play series or not. Livestreams or not. But now, you've essentially cut that down the middle by angering your fanbase. And look, this is a Persona game so it's going to do well either way but it won't do AS WELL since you did this.
Let your influencers help you. They are not a detriment to your business, as you seem to fear.
Most of my Youtube subscriptions are gaming channels. Because I love to watch Let's Plays and that's also how I find out about different games or decide if I myself want to play those games. Not to mention the fact that I'm on the lower end of the income bracket so sometimes this is the only way I'll ever experience some games until I can stabilize my income and be able to afford to treat myself to the newest gaming systems and titles. I know for a lot of other gaming enthusiasts this is the case as well.
That being said, color me surprised when one of my favorite gaming channels, Kubzscouts posts their second episode of Persona 5 Let's Play and they inform us viewers that Atlus, the company who produces these games, has placed a strict ban on streaming and posting videos of the game past a certain point and also placed strict rules about the length of the videos that these creators can post. They stated that if their rules are not followed, copyright strikes will be issued which can lead to people losing their channels and therefore losing their daily income. That's messing with people's livelihoods. Now, as we've established at the beginning of this post, it's your influencers who bring in most of your customers nowadays. That's just a fact of the business in the age of information and internet. That's why most makeup companies are sending out PR Packages to every beauty guru. They want that influencer seal of approval to bring in new customers. What's sad is that a lot of video game companies aren't getting that message. There's still this feeling of disconnect within the gaming community between Let's Players and the video game creators. A lot of times they don't see eye to eye and things like this situation crop up that drives an even bigger wedge in an already pretty hostile environment.
Now, Atlus said that these rules are to prevent spoilers for people who want to play the game but as both I and many other people have noted, that's a non-issue as most people who watch these videos and livestreams choose when and where we stop watching if we do in fact not want spoilers. We're not toddlers who need someone to hold our hand while making a decision. We know what we're getting into when we watch these videos. No need to worry. Um, also, the game has been out for over six months in Japan. If we haven't run into spoilers by now with the whole game already being online then we're not going to let a Youtube video spoil it for us either. What many people think this is really about is forcing people to buy the game and thinking that this ban will do that. I'm here to say Atlus, that you may have done the opposite.
Gamers are a testy bunch and if you piss them off they will turn their back on you and take their business elsewhere. Because here's the thing, the people that we're/are going to buy the game were going to do that anyway. Let's Play series or not. Livestreams or not. But now, you've essentially cut that down the middle by angering your fanbase. And look, this is a Persona game so it's going to do well either way but it won't do AS WELL since you did this.
Let your influencers help you. They are not a detriment to your business, as you seem to fear.
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