mikasa | wen
In the past two years, it has become popular to use one word to describe the state of the game industry: sit-ups. The vividness of the word is that it depicts the daily life of practitioners who are forced to lie flat just after trying to make an effort, and who have just given up their fantasies and are called up to continue to switch back and forth between high, which is exhausting and funny.
No, just a few days after the Release of the April edition, the X-factor that could trigger a new round of sit-ups came again.
At 9:00 a.m. on April 15, a Notice on Strengthening the Administration of Live Game Broadcasting on Online Audio-Visual Program Platforms (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice") appeared on the website of the State Administration of Radio and Television, which stipulated many situations related to live streaming of online games.
In the document, the most concerned is the first article: it is strictly forbidden for online audio-visual platforms to spread illegal games.
I excerpt the original description: All kinds of online audio-visual programs such as online film and television dramas, online variety shows, online live broadcasts, and short videos must not broadcast online games without the approval of the competent departments, and must not drain illegal game content of various platforms through live broadcast rooms and other forms.
It should be emphasized that "online games" in a similar context refer to games that can be obtained from the internet, that is, basically cover almost all common video games - including seemingly unrelated single-console games.
And "online games without the approval of the competent authorities" are easily reminiscent of games without version numbers. As a result, the saying of "banning the game without a version number" has not gone away. Combined with the fact that this document is aimed at the live broadcast platform, the reaction of netizens becomes: the host area is finished! Isn't it true that most game streamers are going to lose their jobs? The darkest day of game live streaming is coming!
Basically, there is no version number .jpg
This cascade of victimization rehearsals is very much in line with sit-up inertia. But are things really as pessimistic as everyone thinks? In the future, you can only see games with version numbers on the live broadcast platform? Or will it be worse than expected?
Before rushing to conclusions, we may as well start with some certain information.
01
First of all, if the "Notice" really intends to strictly prohibit all live broadcasts of games without version numbers, the impact on the game industry is naturally relatively large.
On the one hand, live broadcasting is already an important way to promote games, from masterpieces such as "Eldon's Law Ring" to domestic independent games that land on Steam, which may gain greater voice through live broadcasting; on the other hand, the live broadcast platform is also one of the main channels for pan-gamers to contact new games. Imagine if the content of the current game live broadcast platform is erased, I am afraid that only a few competitive games can support the scene, and the host area will be difficult to sustain.
However, the statement of "online games without the approval of the competent authorities" in the "Notice" gives ambiguous reverie, is "unapproved" equivalent to no version number, or does the competent department have its own approved list, as long as the games on the list can also be broadcast?
Clues to this speculation can actually be found in past policy documents. This is not the first time that the authorities have issued regulatory notices for online game live broadcasting. As early as the end of 2019, the Game Working Committee issued a copy of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's "Notice on Law Enforcement Work related to the online game market".
The third point in the article clearly mentions: Prevent illegal online games that have not obtained online publication numbers from being publicized and promoted through online live broadcasting platforms, and strictly investigate online game technique display activities containing prohibited content.
Therefore, in the eyes of practitioners familiar with the direction of policy trends, the fact that no version of the game is not allowed to be broadcast has always been the middle state of "the rules have long been there, and the specific implementation depends on the implementation".
Since it is something that has been prescribed in the past, it has not been implemented on a large scale in recent years - most of the newly launched single-host games have been promoted live on the live broadcast platform, and even many of them have specifically cooperated with anchors to launch live broadcast models - then there is reason to believe that the current situation may continue to continue.
But it is certain that the "illegal game content" mentioned in the latest "Notice" must be within the scope of severe punishment.
In January this year, Station B had released a "list of banned games" (later deleted), H1Z1, Dawn Kill, Grand Theft Auto series, The Elder Scrolls series, dead or alive and other veteran yellow storm games in the list, and other mainstream platforms have also issued similar banned lists. These games should never be seen on live streams.
The next question is, after the Notice reiterates that unapproved games cannot be broadcast live, will there be specific implementation rules for the live broadcast platform, and will the live broadcast platform reduce the number and type of games that can be broadcast live through spontaneous review due to various factors? This is the question that will have a greater impact on the player audience in the short term.
Interestingly, on the same day that the "Notice" caused heated discussion, a website platform just announced that it would hold a new online game conference, and most of the dozens of participating games were single-host new games without version numbers. As soon as the publicity of the related event was issued, the comment area was immediately "This can also be broadcast?" and other comments swipe the screen.
The sensitivity of ordinary players to policies has reached such a point that it makes people cry and laugh.
02
Since it seems that there are no specific measures, then this wave of "banning the game without version number" is a false alarm? Not quite.
Similar to the fact that games without a version number cannot be broadcast live, the supervision of the promotion of games without a version number in the past two years has also undergone a process from loose to strict. In the anecdotal rumors, no version of the game will not be allowed to spend money to put, but for a long time has not been affected, until later, the purchase of the platform, casual game platform have followed the strategy, Apple and other app stores large-scale removal, let people realize that the boots landed.
In addition, in the field of live broadcasting, there have been examples of games without a version that have suddenly been devastated - the former live broadcast brother "PUBG".
Since August 2021 (that is, the time of the suspension of the release number), a number of game regulatory documents for the protection of minors have been issued, and one day in mid-September, the news that "PUBG will be severely cracked down" began to circulate on the Internet. Subsequently, platforms such as Douyu and Huya successively changed the name of the special area of "PUBG", the name of the fighting fish is "eating chicken game", and the tiger tooth is called "eating chicken every day".
In the following period, pubic players, live broadcasts, and game ecology were further curbed. Until today, although the mainstream live broadcast platform still has the anchor of the live broadcast of "PUBG", they have turned to be hidden under the pan-game areas such as "Hot Games" and "Big God".
It can be seen that it is not difficult to ban a popular game, but it is only a matter of time and strength of policy advancement. What's more, the audio-visual programs mentioned in the "Notice" are not only vertical game live broadcast platforms, but also may involve a wider range of communication channels such as network programs, short videos, and audios.