It's not unusual to see eager consumers testing out all the features of their latest gadget.
Many have decided to test out the Playstation 4’s Twitch integration with the family-orientated Playroom; a basic augmented reality game wherein players can interact with onscreen characters via their bodies and the PS4 controller. Basically, its an update on Sony’s Eye Toy games that accompanied the Playstation 2.
Its uncertain how familiar the broadcasters were with Twitch and its policies.
Twitch might be a popular service in the hardcore game community but it’s largely unknown to non-gamers.
It's likely many were totally unaware, as they were confounded by popular references to the Twitch community and internet culture at large.
Men and women of various ages, groups of friends, kids and families were all seen broadcasting via Sony’s new console. It spawned a couple of impromptu call-in shows, some broadcasters just got drunk and interacted with the chat, one streamed himself sleeping on his couch.
In the beginning, it was all mostly harmless. Even Sony employees were happy to join in the fun.
But there are always the few who will spoil it for the many. One couple broadcast themselves drinking alcohol and sitting on a couch, until one fell asleep. Her partner then groped her and then removed all of her clothes on stream. Another streamer broadcast himself rolling marijuana joints and smoking them. Twitch started banning these blatant violators of their Terms Of Service and then closing all Playroom streams.
Via Twitter, Twitch Support doubled-down on their Terms Of Service.
Non-gaming content (c): If using PS4 Playroom, the content must be about games or gaming and within our ToS. Thanks for understanding. 2/2
— Twitch Support (@TwitchTVSupport) November 24, 2013
Shortly after, Twitch removed access codes from channels, which allowed broadcasters to set a password for streams deemed suitable for viewers 18 years and over.
Now, Twitch has completely removed Playroom from their directory.
(At this time I cannot confirm whether users attempting to stream Playroom are informed of the reason they are being blocked.)
A bandaid solution, it would seem, as users can manually enter a different game title and stream Playroom, hiding their streams under a different title.
To their credit, Twitch has reacted with remarkable speed to curb the problem before it spirals out of control.
The Playstation 4 sold 1 million units in the first 24 hours in North America alone. It still has not launched in Europe, Japan or Australia.
Twitch doesn’t have the mainstream visibility to communicate with every potential user of the PS4’s services. The process of discovery and testing is going to lead to more PS4 users attempting to test this part of the console’s capabilities as sales increase.
This negatively impacts consumers though. Many streams appeared to have popped up organically.
Consumers found the Playroom game, explored the PS4’s streaming capabilities and put two and two together.
Its still early in the holiday season, but you can imagine come Christmas Day there are going to be many more new console owners attempting to test out the PS4’s connectivity with Twitch.
Again, Twitch doesn’t have much mainstream visibility. Parents, children and families who are not involved in the gaming community may wish to stream themselves playing Playroom. Those who are totally unfamiliar with Twitch and the recent problems will probably wonder why they aren’t allowed.
It could lead to frustration for new owners and complaints directed at Sony and Twitch.
Japan also enjoys a relatively healthy live-streaming community thanks to sites like Nico Nico Douga. How will Twitch handle the load of Japanese users who wish to try out the service for similar purposes?
Twitch has found itself in an odd spot. They’ve clarified Playroom was banned because, “a majority of it was non-gaming related.”
Regular users of Twitch were obviously concerned about what this implies for some channels and Twitch Support responded to these concerns on their Twitter account.
Discussing gaming is gaming content. There are numerous such channels on Twitch, such as One More Game.
— Twitch Support (@TwitchTVSupport) November 24, 2013
However it still leaves questions.
What percentage of a channel must be dedicated to gaming or discussion before it violates the Terms Of Service?
Popular streamer Trihex is notable for his skill speed-running Yoshi’s Island. His stream ordinarily finishes most streams with several minutes of general discussion, titled #RealTalk.
While some of it is related to his channel, Yoshi’s Island, gaming or events in the speed-running community, it is also open to discussing any topic. Additionally, Trihex and other broadcasters have streamed themselves doing totally unrelated tasks, such as image editing with Photoshop.
Broadcasters often discuss non-gaming related topics while playing games.
Japanese broadcaster Feed_rss often streams quirky, Japan-only Playstation titles. One of which seemed to be a disc containing only short videos of pop idols from the mid 90’s exploring tourist attractions and interviewing members of the public. He’s also streamed himself eating curry and watching videos of the Japan Defense Force. At what point does his channel become ‘non-gaming related’?
Itmejp, mostly dedicated to video games, also features a weekly gathering of other broadcasters and friends to play Dungeons and Dragons on stream. The game is not played on computer; rather the stream shows the players’s webcam feeds as they play from their homes.
Playroom itself challenges the definition of a ‘game’. With no objectives, goals, or endgame, its focus is purely on interaction with the Augmented Reality characters on screen. However, with the definition of a ‘game’ expanding, it should fall within Twitch’s purview.
Is anything acceptable, so long as players continue that onscreen interaction (i.e. playing the game)?
The most unusual thing is the total silence from Sony on this issue. A major part of their new console has been misappropriated by consumers and now banned by Twitch. Yet they have released no statement on the issue.
Whether Sony was informed or involved in the decision to ban Playroom streams is unknown. I wouldn’t imagine they’re too happy a selling point of such an important product has been blocked.
While video game news sites are happy to reprint tweets and canned email responses from Twitch, it seems none have reached out to Sony for their take on the incident. Even if the response was a simple ‘No comment at this time,’ that still tells us something about Sony’s stance on the issue.
One would imagine Twitch bears the responsibility to moderate how Playroom is used. A large corporation like Sony wouldn’t release such an easily exploitable service without totally washing their hands of any legal responsibility for its uses.
It remains to be seen how long the ban on Playroom will remain in effect. Like any new technology the novelty will wear off and Twitch will be able to easily deal with violations like any other.
For now, it stifles the ability for gaming-related content to explore any opportunities Playroom might afford. And calls into question how Twitch will enforce its Terms Of Service across the site.
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