Do developers have the right to contest YouTubers for their videos if they say the wrong things about their games? This fundamental question is currently being hotly debated, because just such a case occurred in the context of Escape from Tarkov. A YouTuber is said to have spread lies, false statements and unjustified criticism - and there were copyright strikes from developer Battlestate.
There are two fronts. The comparatively small YouTuber Eroktic (around 50,000 subscribers) has been producing a lot of videos on Escape from Tarkov for two years. In many of them he takes a critical stance on the development status of the game, addresses numerous bugs and so on. The other side - developer Battlestate Games - claims that he crossed a line with the most recent videos.
Eroktic spread lies and also publicly supported people with harmful attitudes towards Escape from Tarkov. These people accuse Battelstate of allegedly leaking user data and not closing data leaks - and Eroktic stirs up "negative hype" against the entire team in its videos that deal with these topics.
The result: 47 so-called DMCA claims, i.e. copyright reminders, with which the developers put numerous YouTuber videos offline. For Eroktic, things could end badly: After three successful strikes, YouTube can block the channel. In theory, he could also be banned from opening new channels.
Both sides see themselves in the right
Battlestate Games have issued a lengthy statement on Facebook in which they allege Eroktic and justify their decision. Here are just a few excerpts:
"All attempts to pretend to be deaf ears because we allegedly do not listen to our loyal players is a false and unfounded claim. As always, we have considered any feedback, but in this case we had to take the hard way. [.. .] Eroktic has published a video in which he tendentiously insinuates that we had allowed a leak of two million user profile records out of sheer incompetence. [...] Eroktic created another video, completely ignoring the fact that we had cleared up these leak He spread the alleged fact via YouTube that a leak existed and 90 percent of all user profiles had already been banned. Again, he did so in a disrespectful and cynical manner Way.We investigated the matter and are convinced that the video is completely a lie. "
Eroktic published an even more detailed counter- statement on Facebook in which it faces criticism. Here are some excerpts as well:
"Battlestate Games are lying. They pick out the questions they want to answer and they delete all the postings from their forums that speak negatively about Escape from Tarkov. And after a person is mistakenly banned, they stop responding to their requests. [.. .] If my statements were supposedly a lie, why is my YouTube channel being silenced in no time at all? In the past, the developers at best joked about my channel and did not care about my statements In the two years in which I have been producing content for Escape from Tarkov, I have not spoken to the developers once about my work. [...] They use 'negative hype' to describe criticism of their game.In my opinion, they do not want them and they get everyone out of the way who does not suit them. "
Battlestate Games tell Polygon that they have never made DMCA claims against YouTubers before. And that they have no plans to repeat this approach in the future either. In this case, however, it was necessary because misinformation harms the team and their product.
The community is upset
The fans see it differently. On Facebook there are numerous reactions with hundreds of likes accusing Battlestate of having silenced critics in the past. Eroktics' statement about the ban policy in the forums is correct. And fundamentally one is taking a path here that is clearly pointing in the wrong direction.
Escape from Tarkov
Escape from Tarkov
Escape from Tarkov
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Escape from Tarkov - Check out the Scavs faction screenshots
In principle, the independence of YouTubers is at risk. Battlestate Games make no secret of their aversion to Eroktic's critical statements. But you have to put up with such criticism, otherwise YouTubers would be mere puppets of the developers. Taking their videos from content creators because they are not producing pleasing content is the completely wrong approach. And dangerous when you consider that many YouTubers make a living from their videos.
This attitude is also shared by some particularly loyal fans. So-called emissaries are actually there as a kind of volunteer community manager to promote the players in Escape from Tarkov worldwide. But even here there are people who even vacate their posts because they no longer find working on the game ethically justifiable. One of them is OnepegMG:
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