Nintendo's E3 event is coming up today, and there's an enormous amount of hype generated from everyone's expectations. Understandably so, people expect big announcements, especially potential gameplay footage for the sequel of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Yet, despite the excitement surrounding the upcoming event, Nintendo has gone and done something that's rather deterring.
Nintendo's Japanese division tweeted, requesting that streamers refrain from including any footage from today's Nintendo Direct in their live streams. It's an unexpected move, as part of the excitement of a live stream is that viewers would be watching the streamer's reaction and the event.
However, this does not mean that streamers won't be able to stream their reactions to what they're watching, but it does mean they won't showcase any footage of what they're reacting to. Furthermore, the tweet, which was translated from Japanese, came only hours prior to the event. As a result, a lot of excitement has dialed down, and some streamers are going as far as canceling their live stream of the event, which is understandable. As of now, Nintendo hasn't provided an explanation for this last-minute decision, but it's an odd move to see such discouraging behavior only hours before the show. It's even more disappointing because Nintendo is one of the last shows for this year's E3, and concluding the event altogether in this way is surprising.
In addition to multiple creators canceling their planned streams, Twitch has just posted a tweet addressing the issue. Due to Nintendo disallowing creators from co-streaming, Twitch has confirmed that it won't be airing the event in solidarity with its creators. This has unraveled to become a bit of a mess, and frankly, it was an odd move, to begin with. With that said, there's a big chance that Nintendo's show will still provide impressive announcements, especially with the news of a new Nintendo Switch Pro console being leaked.
Yet, despite what Nintendo may announce today, it's still a shame that streamers won't be able to share their reactions, especially because that's become a big part of E3 in the last year. It's even more shocking when Geoff Keighley had encouraged and supported co-streaming for the Summer Game Fest just a few days ago. Nintendo will have to put on a solid show for people to move past this without much more backlash, but the fact that this happened only hours before the show is what's really causing an issue. Regardless, all of this has been bittersweet, but fans can still expect exciting announcements and a fun show overall.