FromSoftware, the makers of Elden Ring, has recently been banning Japanese streamers after they broadcasted the new game online after they got donations from their audiences.
For some odd reason, FromSoftware has banned the streamers from Japan who have been streaming the game from the comforts of their homes to share their love of the latest game. This has confused the Japanese creators and wanted to ask the clarification from the developers as to the reason of the ban that came out of nowhere.
FromSoftware did note a rule before it released a few days ago, but this has made the Twitch streamers in Japan somewhat trapped in the technicalities of this new ruling.
On March 1, FromSoftware suddenly updated their guidelines for streaming in Japan. The streamers were a bit confused if they were allowed to stream the game at all without getting punished for it. On section five of the guidelines for monetization it says that it is prohibited to use it for monetization using functions like throwing money and super chat that directly exchanges money from viewers. This meant tipping is totally not acceptable when streaming Elden Ring online.
Yuu Asakawa, a Japanese streamer and also a popular voice actress has voiced her frustration for the sudden change of ruling for streaming. It is unfair since FromSoftware suddenly made changes without even warning them ahead of time.
According to her recent post on her personal Twitter account, she says FromSoftware does not allow streamers to get social tipping by streaming Elden Ring but Twitch does not have a tipping off function. She has no choice now but to stream it on YouTube.
The guidelines now say streamers and creators can still post content from the game, but it should not be raw footage of the game itself. Then, what about the streamers who livestream their playthrough online, which is one way of earning their keep.
The voice actress is still frustrated and calls the situation complicated and obscure. The Japanese streamers are now looking for another solution to solve this problem.
Western streamers and content creators seem to have no issue with this though for some reason. If this would have happened, which has happened a few times already with other game companies, this would be a cause for a retribution like review bombing, negative feedback, long online blog posts sharing complaints about the situation, and more.
No word yet from Bandai Namco Entertainment that would clarify on the situation.
Elden Ring is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
