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Microsoft doesn't want free advertising for Halo 4

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Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Halo 4

 

With the current trend of video games throwing in so much effort to advertise their mediocre game (*cough* Dante's Inferno *cough*), you think they would enjoy some free advertising, right?  Some video games rely on this free advertising to get around, such as the mod DayZ being talked about by numerous content creators on Youtube.  Apparently Microsoft doesn't want that free advertising for their games, and will make sure you don't earn any money off in-game footage in their games like Halo 4.

 

Microsoft has released an update to the Game Content Usage Rules for all their games.  Any content creator that tries uploading a video using any game from Microsoft (Halo, Fable, Age of Empires) cannot make any money off advertisements surrounding the video.  Other restrictions state that content creators cannot post it to sites that require a subscription fee to view it, or post it on a page that is used to sell other content or services.

 

So far the only video distribution sites Microsoft restricts is Vimeo and Youtube.  They specifically stated that any partnership with Youtube or affiliate programs (like Machinima) will not be allowed.

 

I understand why Microsoft would do something like this.  In some ways this allows them to control what can be distributed visually of their games to enhance the marketing for their product.  For example, this might reduce the amount of trolls and griefers mocking their products if they can't earn any revenue from the advertisements.

 

But this also means Microsoft is not going to get any free advertisement from fans to their games.  Minecraft and DayZ probably got so big because of the numerous videos on Youtube showing off these games.  Surely when Halo 4 comes out, a fan will record their multi-player session to share it with other fans.  But if the content creators are not going to get any revenue for it, they might as well play and record Borderlands 2 again, and share that content to their community.

 

I'm sure the numerous content creators out there will be glad to not give you any free advertising for your games, Microsoft.

[Source: GameSpot]

 
Tags: Microsoft, machinima, dante's inferno, Borderlands 2, Minecraft, Halo 4, YouTube, DayZ, Vimeo
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Bmob
Sandy Morley
October 10, 2012

YouTube could circumnavigate this whole thing with simply not displaying adverts on these videos.

It's easy to say the backlash could break the game, but there's just no way. DayZ and Minecraft were small, indie developments. Halo 4 is arguably the most anticipated game of the generation. Okay, that was total hyperbole, but the audiences are separate. The mainstream will trust the new Halo, and Microsoft can totally get away with this for that one simple reason.

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Alexander Kraus
October 10, 2012

YouTube could circumnavigate this whole thing with simply not displaying adverts on these videos.

 

True, but content creators on Youtube have a reason to upload their videos as it might be their only job.  If they can't make money off Lets Play videos or even a headshot montage, they might just upload different content.

Bmob
Sandy Morley
October 10, 2012

But they can still indirectly make that money, by pulling in the crowds with these M$ videos and getting those viewers onto their home page or other videos.

Does this include... Red or Blue?

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Alexander Kraus
October 10, 2012

But they can still indirectly make that money, by pulling in the crowds with these M$ videos and getting those viewers onto their home page or other videos.

 

If by "they" you are referring to the content creators, then no.  The new rules state that they can't make money off advertisements surrounding or even on the same page as video footage from any Microsoft game.

 

Now Red vs. Blue has a special deal with Microsoft to continue making their content.  So that kind of content should continue with no issues.

 

But if a Web site wants to upload the trailer of Halo 4 or any Fable game to their site (like the Escapist Magazine) in their own proprietary video software, they can't make any money due to these rules.  At least that is my understanding.

Bmob
Sandy Morley
October 10, 2012

But the adverts wouldn't actually be on the same *page* as the content. They wouldn't even need to be on the same website. There are millions of websites that directly funnel traffic to other places, and even more websites that do so indirectly. Microsoft would have to ban their content on any website with an external link, which is just plain silly.

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Alexander Kraus
October 10, 2012

Maybe there is some way for a Web site, but what about Youtube?  The idea with video content on that site is the advertisements show up in the video.

 

With the rules Microsoft established, those advertisements played during around around the content should not earn the content creators any revenue.  So maybe another Web site could work around this, but anyone that uploads their content to Youtube or Vimeo are screwed of any income.

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Ed Grabowski
October 13, 2012

So they demand that we pay them all the time, for subscriptions to their service, for the games themselves, for the inevitable DLC, micro transactions, Online Passes, Season Passes, etc. Yet, when we try and get paid they write rules to prevent it. Welcome to Corporation 2012! A nail biting story about big business taking away your rights and freedoms one by one, while the population sits by and lets it happen.

It's a best seller.

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