How Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Briefly Got Alanah Pearce Banned On Twitch
Video game writer, voice actor, and streamer Alanah Pearce recently experienced a brief-but-frustrating ban from Twitch, and it seems that Nintendo's over-protective nature regarding "Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" content is to blame. While the issue has been resolved and Pearce is back up and running, the incident is a reminder of how challenging it can be to stream video games, and how even a professional who follows all the rules can still be unjustly punished sometimes.
Twitch issued the ban on May 9, while Pearce was in the middle of a livestream. This took Pearce and her viewers by surprise, and she quickly took to Twitter and YouTube to inform her fans about what had happened.
lol my Twitch just got suspended mid-stream because I was reacting to @SkillUpYT's Zelda preview video
— Alanah Pearce (@Charalanahzard) May 9, 2023
Frustratingly, the notification from Twitch did not explain precisely why she had been banned, saying only that someone had filed a copyright complaint. As Pearce was reacting to a "Tears of the Kingdom" gameplay preview from Skill Up, she speculated that Nintendo could have filed the complaint. After reaching out to Twitch, the platform confirmed that Nintendo was indeed behind the copystrike. This is despite the fact that the footage she was watching had been approved by Nintendo and was freely available on YouTube.
Pearce is unbanned, but Nintendo's reasoning is still unclear
After receiving the suspension, Alanah Pearce filed an appeal with Twitch and quickly got her account restored. She quipped that she'd managed to "speedrun" the ban process, showing that she was still in good spirits after the frustrating experience. All told, Pearce's ban only lasted for just over 70 minutes.
unban speedrun success, I contested it with Twitch as a false DMCA https://t.co/IOVMuYf8i7
— Alanah Pearce (@Charalanahzard) May 9, 2023
It's still pretty unclear why the suspension happened in the first place. Twitch has been known to change its copyright enforcement rules often, and can be quick to ban streamers for violations. This can sometimes lead to mistakes and streamers being banned when they shouldn't have been. But again, since the footage was approved for public distribution, there was no actual violation to report.
Some of the fans in Pearce's replies have suggested that Nintendo is simply being heavy-handed with copyright complaints lately in response to the recent "Tears of the Kingdom" leaks. This would track with the company's crackdowns on social media, which have been so intense that the company accidentally flagged its own official "Zelda" Twitter account for copyright infringement. On the other hand, it's worth noting that Nintendo also has a history of targeting streamers for sharing game footage online. It's possible that this incident was simply the continuation of an ongoing trend.
Whatever the reason behind the strike, Pearce is back on Twitch and all has been put right. Going forward, however, streamers may want to be careful when it comes to covering "Tears of the Kingdom" — even if the footage has been given the okay by Nintendo.