YouTube Lightens Up Over Violence Classifications in Video Game Content

YouTube is making a policy change that, as surprising as it sounds, will give greater freedom to content creators. To be specific, it will loosen up how they consider violence in video game-related content.

According to an announcement by Google Support, "scripted or simulated violent content found in video games will be treated the same as other types of scripted content."

But what does that mean, exactly?

YouTube doesn't allow violent or gory content intended to shock or disgust viewers, or content encouraging others to commit violent acts. Some examples of this are scenes from car accidents, violent attacks, medical procedures, and so on.

But there is a certain catch to this rule: if it's scripted. If it's a scripted segment, like a movie, show, or animation, then it is not given as hard of a limitation. Video games are now included in that exception. As a result, we can expect to see the following kinds of changes here-on-out.

• Future gaming uploads that include scripted or simulated violence may be approved instead of being age-restricted. 
• There will be fewer restrictions for violence in gaming, but this policy will still maintain our high bar to protect audiences from real-world violence.
• We may still age-restrict content if violent or gory imagery is the sole focus of the video. For instance, if the video focuses entirely on the most graphically violent part of a video game.

It's important to note that while this is a new policy change for YouTube community guidelines, this is not a change for their advertisement guidelines. So a video can still be marked as not advertiser-friendly the same way as before.

The popular video platform has a history of implementing more restrictions to their video classifications, often leading to a more difficult time for YouTube content creators to make an affordable income through the platform. It's nice to see them make it easier, if only be a little bit.