Arc System Works Lays Down The Law With Streaming Guidelines For BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle

I don't understand Ark Sys's spoiler paranoia at all.

It. Is. A. Fighting. Game.

No one cares about "spoilers," and the few who would are also the only ones fans you have that would be devoted enough to buy what is essentially half of a game, with the other half poised to be released as DLC somewhere down the line, during the first few months of release that publishers usually care so much about.

Seriously, their business decisions have been baffling lately...

I'm super pumped for this. Love me all arc fighters. N now a proper one on switch

Someone who doesn't give a damn will still upload spoilers of Episode Mode no matter what though, giving this warning ain't gonna change anything especially for devs that only offer half a roster in the game to begin with.

@retro_player_22 Also doesn't change US Fair Use Law. They can't tell you you cant use clips past the second chapter

Or more accurate can't stop you from uploading clips past the second chapter

Who cares. They’re in their right to try to protect it (for all the good it’s going to do anyway...)
It might be just my personal opinion, but I find the uploading of videos of the story mode just the same as uploading a movie: it spoils everything.
I don’t stream or even watch them, so it doesn’t affect me at all.
I bought the game yesterday and I’m loving it. That’s all that matters.

Hey at least these guys don't cut out the entire story mode just because some people posted the cutscenes online.

First of all, these guys have also worded their statements as if they don't want to be aggressive. In that same breath they're also threatening legal actions and take down notices on everything including copyright strikes. They're effectively claiming that any channel on YouTube that uses too much might actually be forcibly deleted because of copyright strikes. This is including reviewers.

The second thing that really gets me for this, the fact that they're making such a big deal over this is actually going to encourage more people to illegally steal the content online. As is always happens when somebody gets too uppity about their content being online.

Dang. If only Sakurai could do this for Smash Bros Switch so he could give Subspace Emissary the follow up it needs.

(The reason he scrapped it for 3DS/Wii U is reportedly that he didn't like that people uploaded footage of it online)

@NotAceAttorney Ah, you beat me to it.

Love it when companies stop free advertisement. Good business decision m8.

On one hand I get why content creators don't like when a publisher tells them they can't stream a game. But I don't really understand why some many viewers get so upset. I actually avoid watching videos of games I plan on buying. If I'm trying to decide if I want a certain game, I'll watch review videos, but I don't want to see the whole game and certainly not the ending.

Are there actually people up in arms about this? Surely it's better to know cans and can't do's before you get copyright struck?

And just how do they plan to enforce this?

Played the demo, not feeling it, too flashy to tell what’s happening on screen.

We could give 1001 reasons why this is bad for their business and "why not?" as to what's wrong with streaming the content.
But they have their own experts and "think tank" in their organization that we have no absolute idea what they're up to.
To me, it's cool.

They're being incredibly sensible. They're allowing streaming just not past a certain point. They're protecting the fans. We've all seen youtubes where the thumbnail itself spoils the movie for example. The only people who will be up in arms about this are the definition of spoil-sports.

Arc Systems, I'm just gonna say this: nobody cares about your stories/worldbuilding. You make great fighting games, push both depth and accessibility to posts most fighters team of, and have interesting and diverse character designs, but dear God, does none of your writing or context make me care one iota about the story. I mostly play the story mode in your games to laugh with others about how bloated and unweildly they are. I mean, for God's sakes, the story mode in Guilty Gear Xrd is literally an anime you included on the disk! No gameplay at all!
So please, we love you, but this is like telling people not to tell others about the tire fire you carefully constructed because it would spoil it.

Seems fine to me. I would prefer to experience the episode mode all by myself than watching it imo. (and when I would even ever get the game soon).

In Persona 5 it made sense as it was super-story based. As out of control as it was.
I'm not so sure on a crossover-fighting game where nonsense plot points can happen.

@MH4 Sakurai has problem with the cutscenes part only, he could had just left the Adventure portion in though. To scrapped both because the cutscenes would be shown online is stupid imo. All we want is an Adventure Mode similar to Melee but with more variety and longer segments instead we got the boring Smash Tour crap.

@Zscout1288 I'm fairly confident they can tell you that. The streamer will not have an easy battle ahead of them using Fair Use as an defense if they are directly profiting from streaming Arc's IP. Unless there's a recent suit I'm not aware of that set precedence for that defense, I really don't see the streamer winning that battle.

@BensonUii Agreed 100%. At least they're being very up front about what is and isn't allowed. It's not like their limitations are overly restrictive either. If they don't want the story mode of their game streamed, who cares? It's their IP.

@retro_player_22 I agree that it's a bit silly, but the cutscenes really sold it for me and completed the experience. Idk if that's nostalgia talking or not (Brawl was my first Smash Bros).

And yes, Smash Tour is pretty crap. But Smash Run on 3DS was pretty good! I enjoy that a lot.

I never understood why anybody would buy a fighting game for the story.

Every fighting game I have played with a story mode has just been campy as hell. It is always some ridiculous fan service for the mega fans and nobody else can even get into it.

@Aerona Exactly, showing a video game story mode isn't a punishable violation as far as the law is concerned. This is just some personal preference of theirs.

@thiz I don't recall them announcing that half of the cast would be DLC back in the early 2000's. Or that they would willingly deny themselves free advertising. And I'm just now realizing that the PC version of Arcana Hearts 3: Love Max!!! was a Japan-only updated release with unique characters. I thought I followed their fighting game pretty closely yet that news slipped through the cracks. Just saying, they should probably welcome some free advertising, since they clearly are not willing to put much into advertising themselves.

@CanisWolfred I care about spoilers in fighting games.

@Aerona Maybe like how Atlus handled Persona 5 spoilers

@JayJ What's wrong with people caring about the campaign of fighting games? A lot of people is so into the story aspect of the genre that's why these regulations were warranted in the first place.
For fans of the genre who isn't into the story at all who like to stream this stuff shouldn't even care since they can stream matches anytime they want.
And it's not like the restriction is forever.

Saw a couple episodes already; not much to spoil as it's not very good IMO. But as stated it's a fighting game so it most likely wasn't the main focus, which is fine.

@Zyph Nothing wrong with it, you shouldn't take my comments that way. Just saying, it is the type of thing that only works as a fan service.

This has always been Arc System Works policy for their fighters, as many of their fighters have a visual novel or cinematic story mode which they want people to have to buy to see.

But I believe this is the first time they made such a big deal out of making it a public policy.

I don't think it's going to do much good, mind you. If people want to watch the story without buying the fighter you'll be able to find it on youtube or twitch somewhere.

Also, crossover stories are rarely actually good, they're mostly about just seeing the unique character interactions, usually played for laughs.

I find it hard to see what's going on with the characters on screen due to there being so many colours floating around. I won't be picking this one up, although it's impressive looking for sure.

Might be unnecessary but still reasonable for them to request it. Still leaves a lot that is allowed. Nintendo has had much more restrictive policies for streaming.