Right now, watching YouTube and Twitch streamers can leave you wondering about their intentions. Companies can sponsor these people, paying them to play the games and act enthusiastic about them for their followers. But soon, viewers watching streamers will know what’s going on when they play EA games, due to new transparency guidelines.
According to reports from NeoGAF and Gamasutra , people with videos supported by EA will have to show it. If they’re getting review copies, passes to events or shows, or anything that has monetary value, they’ll need to have a watermark or hashtag. The watermarks note that it is an EA advertisement or supported by the company, while the hashtag is a more generic #advertisement.
The FTC requires companies and people to disclose when advertising endeavors are involved in coverage. It went after Warner Bros. and PewDiePie after the latter received money to positively cover Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, which led to a settlement. It looks like EA wants to avoid that sort of mess!