Unlike Atlus, Square Enix Sees the Value in Streams

So Square Enix as a whole is dumb because they're still working on FFXV? Really need to let that go. They've made several great games this gen, does that not count for anything because of one bad decision?

Yeah the game is fantastic, but this is totally annoying for some people. I know that Atlus USA is trying to get Atlus JP to let go of the embargo, but I guess we will see.

Not really affected sales though has it? So I don't think they need more of a 'buzz'. I'm on my second playthrough now - didn't realise so much doesn't get carried over

Yeah but if Square was in charge this series would be scrapped for not selling 5-7 million copies.

I'm not agree.

For a game like Persona, it's too risky for spoilers.

I was once a victim.

I was enjoying the game, I mean, SO ENJOYING THE GAME of Persona 4 (in PS2 era).
You know that kind of excitement, like a little kid who just got a new toy, the feeling of everyday is like a new day.
i played day by day with curiousity in my face (since the game is about mystery and all)

But suddenly i got struck by spoiler, by irresponsible person, who just love share spoiler, for attention.
He let me know the true villain behind it all, which is day by day in-game investigation are for nothing.

All those excitement, are gone, curiosity are lost.
Scale from 100% enjoying the game, to just 5%.
It simply ruins everything.

So i stopped playing.
Because the most important thing from the game to deliver is no longer there.

It's like when hearing a comedian in stand up comedy, the comedian take 30 hours to build a super funny punchline, but I already know the punchline, so i didnt laugh, the comedian works are in-vain,

Yes, it okay to be able to stream and screenshots cool things.
But it commonly happening in this days, those parts of the video and screenshots which are contain spoilers RANDOMLY APPEAR in newsfeed on facebook, twitter, line, instagram, blackberry messnger (as profile picture etc), and we just shocked, helplessly inevitable not able to stop them.
Because, well they easily have access to post them, they have privillege, they're innocent, they just love to post, THEY LOVE ATTENTION JUST LIKE THE SHADOW OF THEIR TRUE SELF NEED TO BE ACCEPTED BY SOCIETY.

So, Atlus think: "How to stop all these shadows?"
"Ah, let just lock the door, dont give them access to unleash and bring ruins of those valuable feeling of what human cherish to the world, muahahaha"

these locked stream and sharing may a bad move at some perception, but it's for a good cause.
In my agreement, I just hope after time passed, they will lift the restriction until most of the major of players finished the game, I think they can surveyed by online in-game daily activity, most of progress record always uploaded to the server right? you know, press touchpad to see what other players do.

@Sevenifity Same thing happened to me with Persona 4 (Golden), That spoiler did ruin quite a bit of the fun I was having with the game. I kept playing it and thinking, "but it can't be him; it just can't!".

@Sevenifity You do realise this move meant that more people are posting P5 spoilers all over the internet? Banning streams though? If you're watching P5 streams you can expect spoilers. What's the chance you randomly click on a P5 stream without knowing it?

Asking the gaming community politely to not post spoilers is one thing, but threatening them with copyright strikes strikes and whatnot is just ridiculous.

I appreciate what Atlus is trying to do: their intentions are good.

@Octane Streams let the people who doesnt play the game saw the story and freely posting/uploading pics (maybe pics from google) with "TEXT CONTAINS SPOILER" through the internet, because they know.
Example:
*Pic of a persona character
Text: "Damn, this person is the one who killed that character!"
Few of my friends done that.

There are people who value streams for their popularity and views.
But there are also people who value the experience of the game itself, atlus seems on this side, and i genuinely understand this.

@naruball Since I stopped Playing Persona 4, I finally played on Vita few years later hoping I already forget that empty feeling lol

I'm not sure Atlus gives a poo. The games been selling fine, so as far as they're concerned it doesn't matter. People really seem to be blowing this way out of proportion.

_{Please watch the language -Tasuki-}

@Sevenifity Yeah, but what have they accomplished apart from generating bad press? P5 spoilers are probably more prevalent than they would've been otherwise. People still stream the game and post gameplay videos and spoilers, because they think "screw Atlus, I'm going to do it anyway."

@Octane in case for Persona 5, I believe they dont need to worry about bad press or anything, nor they need promotion from the streams.
And people like me who truly appreciate the game as the way it is, feels so honored with this Atlus decision.

It's just awesome game to the fullest.

@Octane A niche Jrpg which it's predecessor sold a paltry 400k units causing such a huge outrage. Who would have thought it?

As I mentioned in another similar article it's the none Persona fans causing this drama, and as noted In the original Atlus brief the share capability may be reversed in the future. Atlus are laughing all the way to the bank, we'll done outraged fools we will now get P6, P7 and P8. Keep up the great work.

Not to be rude, and I really hope this doesn't come across this way, but this whole thing seems like a storm in a teacup and a massive case of 'first world problems'. Yea the game could get more exposure through lets play streams and the like but goodness, why does this matter so much. Atus have clearly made a decision that they think is right for this game, and they are well intentioned in doing so (even if they have gone about it the wrong way perhaps). Ultimately as the creators, players need to respect that decision. If they decide as a result not to buy or play the game, then thats up to them; no-one is forcing them too. Meanwhile I will continue to enjoy what has been made by the team.

@Turniplord wow good work. How many hours did your first play through take you do you think?I'm 13 hours in and have only just defeated first palace. Really need to start building up my social links as they are severely lacking right now

Yes it's daft, but honestly it's hardly the worst of problems. Personally enjoying Persona 5 way more than I did FFXV already (which was good, don't get me wrong), so I really don't particularly care if a few YouTubers and streamers have to miss out.

All y'all waffling on about spoilers... please just stop. Be a grown up and take responsibility for you actions. Streaming, videos etc is absolutely free advertising, stating that it's already doing well means absolutely nothing, Atlus is a business and their decision is moronic.

is that why segments of Kingdom Hearts 2.8 are blocked from streaming? ^_^

anyway i don't see the point in blocking any part of any game (unless it includes a licensed song or something) from live streaming and if your whole excuse is SPOILERS then it's a pretty poor excuse, if people don't want to have a game spoiled then it's simple, DON'T GO LOOKING FOR IT, if you go on youtube for example and watch someones game play vids you can't complain about the game being spoiled same as if you read a review

it'snot actually that hard to avoid something on the internet you know, things will only show up if you ask for it

@thatguyEZ what isn't blown out of proportion is the fact Atlus are threatening to have people accounts SUSPENDED for posting anything past a certain point in the game

that is just plain wrong

I still believe Atlus are completely within their rights here. They are looking after 'their' fans. Not the random twitch streamer that sees a 94 metascore game and wants to stream it for the views.
I don't really believe that streaming such a plot heavy game would enhance sales. Going off my twitch chat experience it seems that the majority of twitch users are predominant PC users that would never entertain buying a console anyway.

They made the game and should be allowed to do with it whatever they wish. Its up to you whether you want to support it or not.
If you are arrogant enough to break the rules, you have to face the consequences. Simple.

Persona would benefit A LOT from streaming. It is not that mainstream and many people don't know about it... They could find it cool and pick up a copy.

Also if I don't want to be spoiled (and I don't), rest assured I am not watching streams of the games... It's not that I will find them randomly white looking at LinkedIn or something!

I like it, the less streamer's the better!!! (my kid's would kill me for saying that they watch stream's all the time they love em lol). Read a review if you want to know about the game. Screw Square i'm staying well away from FF7 remake after FFXV.

So you want to spoil a massive narrative based game? In bird culture, this is considered a d*ck move.

@Sevenifity @themcnoisy I'm not talking about whether the game is good or not, that doesn't matter in this case. Nor do the sales matter. What matters is the ludicrous action by Atlus, threatening people with IP strikes and DMCA takedowns. Look at this message:

''If you decide to stream past 7/7 (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND NOT DOING THIS, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED), you do so at the risk of being issued a content ID claim or worse, a channel strike/account suspension.''

It's a joke, this is supposed to be a professional company speaking here. As a matter of fact, the game has been out for months in Japan, you could already watch the entire game online if you wanted to, but now it's suddenly not allowed anymore?

And seriously, how difficult is it to avoid Persona 5 streams or Let's Plays? @Sevenifity I know you used the example of people sharing screenshots and posting spoilers online. Well, guess what, that's still allowed. I can spoil the ending right here, and I can even post a screenshot if I wanted to. Atlus doesn't care about that, their so-called rules only apply to YouTube Let's Plays, video walkthroughs and streams, and if you can't trust yourself not looking up spoilers online, that's a personal problem, and not the problem of the people streaming the game.

And none of this matters at all, because we're not even talking about a worldwide release. The has already been out in Japan for months.

As I said, this doesn't solve anything. If there are jerks that want to ruin the game for everyone, they still can. All they've done is raised a ruckus about nothing. ''clap'' Good job Atlus, good job ''clap''.

I'm with @Rob_230 on this one, but then, I'm still baffled by this whole culture of watching other people play games instead of playing them yourself.

@Octane
Atlus: "If you decide to stream past 7/7 (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND NOT DOING THIS, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED), you do so at the risk of being issued a content ID claim or worse, a channel strike/account suspension.''

The meaning just obvious: "They dont want their game being streamed, do it and prepare to be punished"
And those warning even suits the game theme

It's great decision.
More like, awesome, actually~

If they don't want the game spoiled then they wouldn't watch the stream.

@ApostateMage Absolutely this. Completely on board if thats what people want to do; but I have a backlog the size of my arm (and beyond) that I will never have time to get around to, let alone watch others play online 🤔

@get2sammyb Considering Puyo Puyo Tetris is being hit with the same restrictions, I think we can probably say that SEGA is most likely behind the more severe restrictions on Persona 5 as well.

You know, in a roundabout way the stream ban actually helps P5 since it means people will have to actually buy it and play it themselves.

Not like it needs the help. It seems to be doing well.

@FullbringIchigo Sure, it's wack. But it's just one game and it's not like this is the first case of this happening. If you don't like what they're doing just don't buy the game and send them a physical letter telling them why you won't be buying it.

@thatguyEZ i'm OK because i'm not a big streamer but i still think it's wrong to threaten suspension just for sharing some screen shots or videos

@Octane why are you so angry at this?

Streamers have a privilege not a right. Let's be frank here, if the BBC want to cover a game they would cover most of, if not all of the bases prior to sanctioning a program. They would have researchers, communications and meetings if needs be. I'm pretty sure if one of the streamers put half as much effort into their communications with companies they would find themselves in a much better place. That's my stance anyway, I know yours is different and thats fine but I don't understand why it's so much of a huge shock and making you so distraught.

@themcnoisy I'm not angry.

I just don't understand why they're doing this. As I said several times already, they're not helping anybody. People can still spoil the game, and they have been doing so out of protest. You can still post screenshots that not everyone wants to see. Why target Let's Players and streamers? Sure, they're an easy target due to YouTube's lousy rules, but it's a lot more difficult to get spoiled by a P5 stream than a spoiler-y screenshot on Twitter, Facebook or on internet forums. So what's the point again?

That's why I think it's stupid, they're trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist (i.e. getting spoiled by a Let's Play or stream) and it doesn't benefit anyone. All of this doesn't affect me, I have no intention of watching Persona 5 on a stream, but on principle all of this, including the DMCA takedown threats, is just ludicrous. That's why I can't defend practices like this.

@Octane But the problem does exist. You have to understand that the Japanese are different in both culture and story telling. If you watch anime they have pretty much the same philosophy across the board and its been that way since forever. Everyone's getting their knickers in a twist but it's a one off linear story, it's massively spoiler heavy and not just for the ending but the interlinking sections throughout. The scenarios you enter into, the character involved and the ultimate good and bad guys as it's purposefully ambiguous at the start of the game.

Atlus have previously sold all of their other hits to a smaller than you probably realise loyal fan base who are much less likely to kick off about screen shots and more likely to moan about creative direction, character progression, 2d characters and spoilers!

Believe it or not, I'm not the biggest Atlus game fan. But I am a big anime and Japanese culture fan. I've visited there, played games over there, I'm wearing imported graffiti jeans right now and understand the evolution of Manga and how their stories evolve. I totally understand their stance. If it hurts John and his bedroom stream then that's just tough.

I like streaming, Ive enjoyed a few of Alex's game streams and Ben's WWE video. They are great and well worth a watch. But to be honest if I knew the story of Persona 5, I wouldn't play the game as the story is the game. Without the surprising twists and turns its just another turn based jrpg, It doesn't have multi-player to keep you invested. It doesn't have a practically endless openworld world either and it doesn't have multiple ways to play other than story choices. So that's my case for the defense.

The bigger question I have is why puyopuyo tetris has sharing switched off?That does need covering and I would agree is insane.

@themcnoisy Agree with you on Puyo Puyo Tetris.

Look, I appreciate what Atlus is trying to do, because I understand what you're talking about. I understand there's little incentive if you already know the entire story. But my point was the way they handled this and the result. I don't think it was handled well, asking the community is one thing, threatening them is another. I think if they opted for the former, people would be much more compliant.

However, my biggest gripe is that none of this solved anything. People can still spoil the game, they can still post screenshots or straight up spoil the story, there's nothing stopping them from doing that. On top of that, the game has been out in Japan since last year. So it's not like any of this was a secret to begin with. If you wanted to know the ending or the story, you could. In the end, it only limits streamers. I guess that's within Atlus' right, but I don't think it solves anything, because spoilers can still happen. So again, it's a bunch of ruckus over nothing.

@Octane Maybe they never considered the business decision unlike Square in the article above and would prefer to keep artistic integrity instead. But they apparently aren't allowed to have that in this day and age. Maybe the press release was heavy handed, for me I got what they are trying to do. Looking at it from a none Persona fan or streamer it is easy to pick out the negative bits.

One things for sure, I can see Atlus reversing the policy at some point. It does state that too in the press release right at the end. It will be funny to see the reactions then from games websites, if it does happen.

@Rob_230 erm..... 128 hours on my first playthrough. On second now trying to get the missing trophies. Easier with high level gear and 100% social skills

Streaming and stuff is free advertising. And Atlus decided they didnt want that endorsement. Its their choice to make and they can shoulder the consequences (its selling great in case you were wondering what the impact of that decision was)

Didn't even realise this was an issue

@Octane Let it be and go play this awsome game mate.

@Flaming_Kaiser I can enjoy a game and still disagree with the company's stupid business decisions, they're two separate things