- There is some massive news coming out around Minecraft
that specifically affects Minecraft YouTubers
but in my personal opinion affects anybody
who has a gaming channel on YouTube.
But I'll get to more on that in a little bit.
This topic is particularly close to me
as an individual because I started my entire YouTube career
with a Minecraft channel, as I'm sure a lot of people do.
Back then you could do basically
whatever you wanted with Minecraft.
The creators at the time did not care.
But rules were added later on
to offer the company a little more protection.
I'm of course referring to the last time
the Minecraft EULA was updated.
It was pretty dramatic.
But that update was nowhere near as far reaching
as the one that was just put out the other day by Minecraft.
The points we'll cover today specifically focus
on the YouTube creator side
but also Minecraft server hosts as well
because a lot of YouTubers have Minecraft servers.
So let's get into it
and we're gonna cover the really big points here.
The first one being that there are new restrictions
around the way you can title a Minecraft video.
By the way
this full end user license agreement update will be linked
in the description below
if you would like to see everything that changes here.
But from that very document,
content creators can no longer use Minecraft
as the primary or dominant title for their content.
They give us a few examples here of what's good
and what's not good. And one of them that's not good
to use is a title like "Minecraft, the Ultimate Help App."
Essentially starting a video title with the word Minecraft
in this way almost makes it sound like,
I guess in their opinion that this is a video
that was specifically made by Mojang,
the company behind Minecraft.
That's more of an assumption on my part
but that seems to be the trend.
Putting Minecraft as the first word
in the title is probably not a good idea.
However, if you're like The Shaft
which is a Minecraft podcast,
you could name your video "The Shaft,
a Minecrafter's Podcast," and that would be fine.
The second huge point here is that pay walls
in front of Minecraft content are no longer okay.
So if you are a YouTuber who does regular members
only Minecraft live streams,
you might wanna rethink that strategy.
Getting into news about Minecraft servers
there are now restrictions on server promotion.
Specifically Minecraft assets such as logos
and fonts cannot be used to promote mods, servers
or worlds that are not related to Minecraft.
Another point on servers is
that they now must be acceptable for all ages.
All Minecraft servers must be suitable
for all ages with no exceptions.
That means that any content on a Minecraft server
that is deemed inappropriate by Mojang is not allowed.
And then to top all of that off,
where things get really confusing is
this next point about servers.
Every server's entry process now must include a disclaimer
that this is not an official product of Minecraft.
So your servers have to be completely friendly to all ages
but also they need to be very upfront about how
they're not associated with the company that owns Minecraft.
As you read through these changes,
you'll notice that some things have a little more context,
they have a little more detail,
and some things are seemingly nebulous,
and that's probably on purpose.
The reason I say that is because I actually talked
to a Minecraft creator that I know pretty well.
Their name is Farzy,
and they've been doing this for a while.
Farzy did not have time to jump on camera with me today
but did offer a quick thought.
He says, "I don't think Minecraft is gonna be very strict
with this new end user license agreement for 99% of users.
I feel like these changes are more
about giving Minecraft the ability to take action
for extreme cases that harm/abuse Minecraft's brand."
We've certainly seen examples of that
in the past when it comes
to other companies implementing really strict ways
in which content creators can and can't use their products.
I would say Farzy's opinion is a very positive outlook
on this whole situation.
That has not stopped a large portion
of the Minecraft community, though
from subjecting the company to a lot of backlash.
Server owners in particular are feeling like
this is preventing them from engaging with Minecraft
in a meaningful way.
They feel that Mojang is taking way too much control here
and as such is kind of shutting down their work.
Meanwhile, content creators are extremely concerned
about how this is going to impact their ability
to make money off of their channels
which are centered around Minecraft.
According to the new guidelines,
"You are allowed to create, use and share videos, streams
and screenshots of you playing or using Minecraft.
You may also make money
from your videos and streams through ad revenue
if you follow the guidelines in this section."
The videos must be free to view,
and you have to have your own unique content
to the video or the livestream.
The only example they give about adding unique content comes
in the form of audio commentary.
Now, does that mean you can do a silent Minecraft video
where maybe you have some music
and it's just you building something and it's maybe sped up?
That's not clear,
and because they don't make that distinction
this is one of the reasons creators are so concerned.
And of course this is a double whammy
to creators who have a Minecraft server as part
of maybe a membership program to their YouTube channel.
From looking at these guidelines myself,
it seems that server hosts largely are following
the same guidelines that were there from years ago.
However, because now all Minecraft servers need
to be friendly to all ages, this does throw a wrench
into maybe communities who are more adult oriented.
Maybe they don't want people who are
under 18 on their servers.
Now, of course, that's just me speculating
and I'm not the only one.
There's a lot of speculation going on here.
A lot of people speculate that Minecraft
and Mojang are doing this because they just want
to prevent abuse of the Minecraft name itself.
And don't get me wrong,
there has been abuse of this product in the past.
People will sell expensive guides and accessories.
They'll create massive servers
that are actually pay to win.
So you can't really get very far
unless you start shelling out money.
These new guidelines certainly do offer Minecraft
and Mojang that protection, but it does come at a cost.
And this is where I want to talk about the major implication
for all gaming channels, regardless of what you're playing.
You see, the problem with being a gaming creator
on YouTube is that this can happen to you.
And there's nothing you can do about it.
You've tied your entire channel, your entire brand
to something that you don't actually own or control.
So by the good graces of Microsoft in this case,
you up until now have been allowed
to basically run your channel and title your videos
however you see fit.
But they are completely within their rights
to enforce these guidelines
if they feel like they've been broken.
And we have seen other corporations pursue guidelines
like this when it comes to YouTube creators.
As many of you know covering Nintendo games
on YouTube has its own pitfalls.
For example, if you do any kind
of modded content around modern Nintendo Switch games,
you can bet that eventually Nintendo will find those videos
and have them removed.
This happened actually recently to PointCrow
who has a channel that's mostly focused
around Nintendo games.
A while back they did some modded Zelda content
and all of those videos got removed
as well as some other ones that were not modded.
Gaming creators like PointCrow know this all too well
and it's why they work to kind of diversify
their content over time.
At VidIQ we tell you not to play too many games
on your channel and confuse your audience.
But in my opinion, you should eventually work
on a plan that helps you broaden your scope
of your gaming channel in some way or another.
Developing your voice and your unique personality
and perspective over time on your channel is going to be
what allows you to start maybe trying other games,
to give your thoughts and opinions
about things maybe happening in the gaming community.
So are Minecraft creators just done for?
Personally, I don't think so.
This isn't Microsoft saying
you can't make Minecraft content.
That's not what's happening here.
But this does mean
that you as a Minecraft content creator have
a responsibility to make sure that your content is
within these guidelines, whether you like them or not.
I do feel like given how big the story is
and how upset people are,
there is a chance you might see some
of these walked back a little bit.
So you're gonna want to keep up with Minecraft's documents
and just all the news surrounding this so you know exactly
what's going on, because by the time you watch this,
things may have changed again.
And if you're interested in taking that approach
of perhaps expanding your reach
as a gaming channel and going beyond just playing one game,
I'm gonna recommend this video right here
which is kind of part of the building blocks
to starting a gaming channel in the first place
and helps set you up for that success later on.