Brace yourselves for some terrible news – Nintendo is closing down the Nintendo Creators Programme. A beacon of light that once represented hope in the darkness has been extinguished; never again will we know the true meaning of peace and freedom.

And now, a bit less sarcastically, some news about what Nintendo is replacing the Creators Programme with 😉 The answer is basically nothing. Well – not a new programme, anyway. Rather, some more relaxed and less stringent guidelines pertaining to the way in which Nintendo content can be used and monetised.

Here are the key take-aways, as posted by Nintendo…

• You may monetise your videos and channels using the monetisation methods separately specified by Nintendo. Other forms of monetisation 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).

So basically, releasing footage of games that are not yet publicly available is a definite no-no. So if you’re currently eyeing your miraculously-acquired copy of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and feeling the urge to shamelessly YouTube, my advice would be to leave it a week or two. However, the good news is that once the game is out in the wild, it should be far easier to put out some let’s plays / reviews / other pieces of creative content.

As Nintendo explained in a statement…

“We are humbled every day by your loyalty and passion for Nintendo’s games, characters and worlds, and respect that you want to be able to express yourself creatively by sharing your own original videos and images using content from our games.

“As long as you follow some basic rules, we will not object to your use of gameplay footage and / or screenshots captured from games for which Nintendo owns the copyright (“Nintendo Game Content”) in the content you create for appropriate video and image sharing sites.”

All of which is pretty positive! It’s probably an understatement to say that ‘relations’ between Nintendo and YouTubers hasn’t always been the best, and the latest round of channel closures following the leaked Smash Bros. footage has thrown a blistering spotlight on the company’s censorship M.O. (two highly-subscribed YouTube channels were closed down for copyright infringement earlier this week.) On this basis, though, it sounds like Nintendo and the Internet are going to have a much more harmonious relationship moving forward, which is great.

And if you’ve yet to pre-order your own copy of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in order to take full advantage of these new guidelines, click here to buy yours and help support this website.

Have a great weekend y’all.