Let's Play videos and youtube adsense?

Maybe this isn't the right place to ask, but hell, I figure somebody here should know.

Does anybody know if it's possible to make money off of doing "Let's Play" videos on Youtube?

I recently got invited to Youtube's Revenue Sharing program, which lets you gain a percentage of ad money by placing advertisements on specific videos of yours. The only stipulation is you can't have any copyrighted content without permission from the copyright holders. They list a few examples, one of them being video game/software footage.

I guess what i'm really asking is if anybody knows how or if people who post "Let's Play" videos are able to make money off of it?

Don't be too excited; I got that email, too, and...well, I think my view counts speak for themselves.

I guess what i'm really asking is if anybody knows how or if people who post "Let's Play" videos are able to make money off of it?

The only stipulation is you can't have any copyrighted content without permission from the copyright holders. They list a few examples, one of them being video game/software footage.

@Three0neFive said:

@Vigorousjammer said:

I guess what i'm really asking is if anybody knows how or if people who post "Let's Play" videos are able to make money off of it?

@Vigorousjammer said:

The only stipulation is you can't have any copyrighted content without permission from the copyright holders. They list a few examples, one of them being video game/software footage.

I think you just answered your own question.

Well, yeah, that's the weird thing to me, I've heard of people like Totalbiscut and the Yogscast making a bunch of money off of doing Let's Play videos on Youtube, and i'm not sure how they start off doing that stuff. I'm sure starting off, before anybody knew who they were, game companies would be hesitant to give them rights to show their game off... or maybe not? maybe game companies just see it as free advertising?

I guess I don't really know who I should ask... I think it'd be kind of rude to ask those guys directly about how they started off, and Youtube would just give me a cookie cutter answer. I suppose I could ask game companies for rights, but I'd likely not even get a response. Anybody know how this shit works? Magnets? ICP? that's relevant stuff, right? lol.

It explicitly says in the monetise section that videos containing footage of games are not eligible. I got an 'invite' too, but I don't think its the exclusive club it once was. They're just putting it out there now if I had to guess.

Yes you can make money, and a lot of people make a very good living out of it.

Yes it's illeagal, but nobody's gonna sue you for it, or even do anything.

If they flag your, or delete a video, or say "hey cut it out", then stop. But if you wanna put an ad on your next video then just do it.

I used to make web games supported from ads, and plenty of people around me were making game-sprite cartoons or parody games or music games or whatever -they didn't give a shit these rules. Nothing ever happened, nobody ever noticed.

You're gonna make like $7 in 6 months anyway.

@Video_Game_King said:

Don't be too excited; I got that email, too, and...well, I think my view counts speak for themselves.

People simply don't appreciate you like they should... :p

@Video_Game_King said:

@Jeust: You my half-jokes about Waffle not being a lady's man aren't being fully appreciated? Emphasis on "fully"?

No, they need a larger audience, ^^

You are allowed to monetize these videos, just check "yes" when they ask if you have video game software footage, and write in the text box "I recorded some video game footage." I have yet to have a video taken offline, and YouTube has clearly decided they're cool with video game footage. It's not like the Yogscast contact the publishers of every game they show to secure the rights to show the game, it's just that they're allowed to film games (like everyone else) until a company decides they're not. And no companies are shutting down game footage right now because it's free advertising.

But yeah don't expect much money until your view counts are in the tens of thousands.

I have 3 videos on my YouTube channel that I have this option for, between them they have ~140k views. I probably should do it but don't think I get a whole lot of views these days so probably wouldn't be worth it.

Now if only I did that before they got all those views :P