Do streamers contribute to the sales of games or take away from them? Discussion flares up among Japanese users

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A series of tweets published by Japanese Twitch streamer and self-proclaimed “macho gamer” @nwata1122 triggered a discussion on the topic of whether gameplay streamers affect sales of games positively or negatively, which resulted in a split in opinions among Japanese users. 

https://twitter.com/nwata1122/status/1678688746974355456?s=20
Tweet translation: Regarding the age-old controversy about whether game sales increase or decrease due to gameplay streaming, I personally believe that people who think things like “I’m going to watch streams, so I’m not going to buy games” wouldn’t buy games even if there was no gameplay streaming. Basically, I believe that streaming helps sell games.

The tweet has since been viewed over 7.6 million times and received over 29.6k likes, with a portion of users agreeing with the statement, citing examples of games that rose to success largely thanks to the effect of streaming such as the recently released Only up! Many also recalled the various titles they decided to purchase upon watching streams and finding the games attractive. It can’t be denied that streamers can have a big impact on games reaching and being discovered by wide audiences, essentially serving as a form of advertisement. 

However, at the same time, many criticized the tweet for being too much of a sweeping statement, as the same cannot be said for games of all types and genres. Story-centered games in particular were cited by many as an example of a genre that suffers greatly from being distributed via streams, as watching the stream equals consuming the content of the game in its entirety. The streamer later expanded on his statement to include this point of view as well. 

https://twitter.com/nwata1122/status/1678692899603771392?s=20
Tweet translation: This tweet doesn’t encompass everything, so I’d like to add something. What I want to say is that there are people who buy games because they became interested in them through watching streams, so the increase in sales thanks to streams probably outdoes the loss in sales. Of course, I’m sure that there are people here and there who give up on buying a game after watching it on stream.  
https://twitter.com/nwata1122/status/1678790577540956160?s=20
Tweet translation: I didn’t expect this to blow up so much, so I’d like to add one more thing. I do believe that it depends on the genre. For spoiler-sensitive games, I do think it’s more likely that sales will drop. I think this is why many developers define restrictions for streaming, such as allowing streaming up to chapter 1 and similar. Also, I am a person who can speak from both the streamer and the developer’s point of view. 

This discussion can be linked to a previous discourse started by Hiromichi Takahashi, president of AMATA. Takahashi had proposed that platforms that host gameplay video and video-game streaming such as YouTube and Twitch should introduce mechanisms to share revenue with game developers to compensate for the loss of opportunity some games experience. Takahashi had also raised the important point that with the current state of things, game genres that are negatively affected by streaming might gradually stop being made, dealing a blow to the diversity of video games. (Related article) 

On the other hand, there were also those who were critical of video game streaming as a whole and likened it to piracy, such as the infamous Japanese site Mangamura that had hosted pirated manga. 

Tweet translation: If there were manga that benefited in sales thanks to Mangamura, does that mean we should approve of Mangamura? Is what this topic comes down to. Yes, there are titles that allow streaming, but in the first place, it’s become a matter of course for titles to be streamed regardless of whether it’s forbidden → Since it can’t be stopped, let’s at least make the streamers useful through regulations. I presume this is how the situation is turning out?

The nature of the topic doesn’t allow for a simple answer, but the increasing discussion about the relationship between video game streamers and developers is a sure sign that the situation should not be left alone. Proactive solutions that take both sides into consideration such as that proposed by Hiromichi Takahashi might be the key to resolving the situation. 

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Amber V
Amber V

Novice Editor-in-Chief since October 2023.

She grew up playing Duke Nukem and Wolfenstein with her dad, and is now enamored with obscure Japanese video games and internet culture. Currently devoted to growing Automaton West to the size of its Japanese sister-site, while making sure to keep news concise and developer stories deep and stimulating.

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