Twitch cancels airing of Nintendo Direct after Nintendo bans co-streaming

Twitch, the most popular livestreaming platform for video gaming content, has announced that they are canceling their airing of Nintendo Direct on their official channel, after Nintendo said creators could not co-stream the event.

Co-streaming is a very common way for streamers to watch events alongside their viewers, particularly around convention time, like E3.

Although it can take viewers away from the main broadcast, event organizers typically encourage co-streaming, as it can massively boost the overall viewership of their event.

However, in a move that Twitch says “differs from years past”, Nintendo’s official Japanese Twitter account said on June 14 that creators should “refrain from mirror distribution of Nintendo Direct video and audio during live distribution of Nintendo Direct.”

In response, Twitch canceled their airing of the show on their Twitch Gaming channel, despite having permission to broadcast it.

It appears Twitch has made this move in solidarity with creators, stating that their reason for canceling was “because all creators can’t co-stream.”

Twitch very clearly promotes the use of co-streaming for events, as it helps an event reach the widest possible audience. When the biggest streamers on the platform like xQc and LIRIK co-stream gaming events, they will attract tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of viewers.

However, some have speculated that Nintendo’s message was intended only for Japanese creators and audiences, as their English language accounts for the USA and United Kingdom have not posted similar warnings about co-streaming.

Many Nintendo fans on Twitter have highlighted that similar messages were sent out for Japanese streamers for past events, but that the warnings typically do no apply elsewhere.