Incensed Japanese visual novel author vows legal action against streamer for violating broadcast embargo, then vanishing into the night without even saying sorry

The developer of a Japanese visual novel by the name of Apathy Murder Club has decided to pursue legal action after a streamer broadcast the game against a requested embargo date on its Steam page.

Apathy Murder Club, a visual novel created by SHANNON and authored by Takiya Iijima, released onto Steam earlier this month—however, as reported by Automaton, Iijima quickly noted that a streamer had streamed it «for several hours from the first day of release, through several different endings.»

This is more than a simple faux pas, though. Streaming rules and regulations are far stricter in Japan when it comes to visual novels. Last year, a YouTuber in the country's Miyagi prefecture was arrested for uploading a video of STEINS;GATE Hiyoku Renri no Darin that spilled the ending of the game. He was later convicted in court.

As for Apathy Murder Club, the Steam page asks that players don't distribute or stream it until August 3, with a request for copyright. Iijima took to Twitter to vent their frustration (the following quotes are machine-translated):

«If we come into contact with people who are happy ignoring the feelings of game creators like this, we will have no choice but to raise the price of games and ban gameplay commentary semi-permanently. If that means games don't sell, then there's nothing we can do. What should we do about gameplay commentary?

»I don't make games for people to create derivative works or play them live. I make games for people to play. Is that wrong? … I make a living by making games. I support my family."

It's a fascinating conundrum—we're all used to YouTubers, content creators, and streamers being a secondary way to enjoy games, and for good reason. Twitch is pretty much a free advertising platform, and if you see someone playing a game, chances are you'll want to play it too.

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A visual novel, however, straddles the line between game and more