Nintendo Creators Program Will Shut Down By End Of December

Nintendo has announced that it will terminate its Creators Program by the end of December. Nintendo will be replacing the Creators Program with a set of guidelines, a move that is akin to what Sony and Microsoft are currently doing.

“We are ending the Nintendo Creators Program to make it easier for content creators to make and monetize videos that contain Nintendo game content,” the company said on its website. “We will no longer ask creators to submit their videos to the NCP, and creators can continue showing their passion for Nintendo by following Nintendo’s guidelines.”

The Nintendo Creators Program was launched in 2015. It allows creators from YouTube, Twitch, Facebook and other platforms to showcase Nintendo’s games. The program is quite controversial since it requires content creators to first submit their videos to Nintendo before they are allowed to be monetized. Those who are part of the program are granted 60 percent of the ad revenue.

The Creators Program is heavily criticized for being too restrictive when it comes to monetization. For those who aren’t part of the program, they won’t be getting any ad revenue. Instead, their content will still be viewable but with Nintendo advertisements. Proceeds from those kinds of videos will only be split between Nintendo and YouTube, according to Polygon.

YouTube creators in particular are hit pretty hard with Nintendo’s restrictions. Creators who shared gameplay footage of “Super Mario Odyssey” and “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” were hit with copyright infringement claims and thereby demonetized by YouTube’s system. Live streaming Nintendo’s games is also prohibited, even if the creator is part of the program.

With the Nintendo creators Program shutting down soon, Nintendo has published a set of guidelines (found below) that all creators must follow in order to keep their content up and monetized. The guidelines also apply to live streaming Nintendo games.

• You may monetize your videos and channels using the monetization methods separately specified by Nintendo. Other forms of monetization of our intellectual property for commercial purposes are not permitted.
• We encourage you to create videos that include your creative input and commentary. Videos and images that contain mere copies of Nintendo Game Content without creative input or commentary are not permitted. You may, however, post gameplay videos and screenshots using Nintendo system features, such as the Capture Button on Nintendo Switch, without additional input or commentary.
• You are only permitted to use Nintendo Game Content that has been officially released, or from promotional materials officially released by Nintendo (such as product trailers or Nintendo Directs).
• If you want to use the intellectual property of a third party, you are responsible for obtaining any necessary third-party permissions.
• You are not permitted to imply or state that your videos are officially affiliated with or sponsored by Nintendo.
• We reserve the right to remove any content that we believe is unlawful, infringing, inappropriate, or not in line with these Guidelines.