Alex Hutchinson, creative director at the Montreal studio, publishes this controversial opinion.

Should pay streamers for using games in their lives? This opinion from Alex Hutchinson, creative director at one of the Stadia studios, has generated controversy on social networks by suggesting that, as with copyrighted music or videos, those who use a game in their streams should pay a part of the benefits to the studios and publishers, in the concept of rights. An opinion that has caused the rejection of many users, and the distancing of Google itself.

Through his personal Twitter account, the director of games like Assassin’s Creed 3 or Far Cry 4 mentioned the following, following the new Twitch policies on the use of music with rights: “Streamers concerned about the withdrawal of their content by using music that they hadn’t paid for should be more concerned with the fact that they’re streaming games they haven’t paid for either. All of that goes as soon as publishers decide to exercise [their rights]. ”

However, it was the second part of his message that caused the controversy: “The reality is that streamers should be paying the publishers and developers of the games they broadcast. They should have to buy a license, like any real business, and pay for the content they use. ” A message that, at the time of writing the news, accumulates just 430 retweets, but more than 15,200 responses, the clearest example that it has not been received too well by the community.

The problem for many responses is that the developer charges against the streamers, instead of asking that Twitch itself share part of its benefits. And here, people highlight the promotional work that streamers do for games, many citing the case of Among Us as an example of a game that jumps to stardom thanks to streamers, something that would hardly happen with a rate in between. For its part, Google has distanced itself from the words of its developer.

In a statement to 9to5Google, and given the large number of responses that have taken Hutchinson as a director of all Stadia, when in fact he is the creative director of one of its studios, the Mountain View company wants to make its distance clear with the comments: “Recent tweets from Alex Hutchinson, Montreal Studio Creative Director at Stadia Games and Entertainment, do not reflect those from Stadia, YouTube or Google .”

Alex Hutchinson’s words may have been controversial, but they also reflect the lack of an agreement between Twitch and the companies, something that has been evident with the withdrawal of content for music rights. Regarding this platform, Twitch consumption during the past quarter decreased compared to previous periods, although it is still ahead of YouTube and Facebook Gaming in terms of hours. And, in recent days, we have seen an American congresswoman star in one of the most viewed streams in history thanks to Among Us.

Please support our page theGeek.games on Patreon, so we can continue to write you the latest gaming, movie and tech news and reviews as an independent magazine.
Become a Patron!