Bethesda's new review-policy and youtubers screaming 'think of the children!!'.

It came as no surpise to me that Bethesda's new review policy was immedeately seen as a slight towards the amateur-press as it exists on Youtube. Youtubers dependant on the clicks stand to earn quite a bit when the next Bethesda blockbuster is about to drop and they can show their review-copies off in advert-laden videos or subscribtion based Twitch screenings.

Hiding the perceived attack on their business with nice deflectors like 'consumer unfriendly' or 'afraid we expose the low quality of their games' so that they can place themselves as the defenders of the downthrodden gamer, they fail to see the why behind Bethesda's decision to not give out review-copies anymore until a day before world-wide launch of any new title starting with Dishonored 2 and Skyrim SE going forward.

Youtubers are no longer the boon that they used to be. They would figuratively kill to be online with something before the rest of them and profit off of the clicks before everybody else. Apart from that, the most popular channels on Youtube aren't exactly wholesome but toxic negativity channels that preach before their respective choirs. No longer places where any sane company would want their product to be shown in.

Youtubers are quick to show their benovalent face, but the reality is that they're not any better than anybody else who's in it for the money. Youtubers aren't there for you. They're there for the monetary value that you represent to them. Your patronage earns them money and in return they'll say anything that'll turn you into a repeat visitor. Off course they value you. They value you as much as Bethesda does; as much as there is money in your wallet.

Whenever a youtuber or a company representative opens their mouth, all that you should hear is a cash-register pinging, because whatever they say is fuelled by the promise of money and an eventual pay-out for their troubles. What's going on now is nothing more than youtubers getting the bill presented to them for hiding behind 'fair use' and 'freedom of speech'. And with good reason because they've build up quite a body of evidence that they can't handle either.

One can't sit there and rag on somebody else's IP sometimes for weeks on end and expect it to last forever, that publishers and developers would sit there and not looking for ways to defend their product and themselves. At some point, the golden goose refuses to hand out their golden eggs for anyone to abuse as they see fit.

Off course John Bain has thoughts to share, laying the blame by the blind, stupid pre-order Bethesda-shills while making it so that it doesn't actually means anything to him, righteous indignation aside.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76tSYX6ZxsA

It'll be a while yet before the youtubers discover that gainful employment is something they should look into, it seems, because I can't imagine that Bethesda will long be alone in this decision.