a 52yearold from nagoya japan is facing charges of illegally uploading and monetizing gameplay videos to a public youtube channelas japan today reports via gamesindustry the charges stem from shinobu yoshidas alleged uploading of three gameplay videos from the japanese visual novel steinsgate my darlings embrace the game was originally released on xbox 360 back in 2011 and most recently rereleased nintendo switch ps4 and windows in 2019 police say the videos uploaded to yoshidas youtube account were monetized and had been collecting ad revenue perhaps also related one of the videos is purported to have revealed the games endingyoshida is said to have also uploaded videos from the steinsgate anime adaptation as well as the spy x family anime but those dont appear to be related to the charges being broughtas japan today explains nonmonetized gameplay videos from japanese youtube accounts are commonplace and so far have yet to be subject to legal action but steinsgate rights holder kadokawa felt this case warranted charges because its related to a visual novel designed to be watched without interaction from the player in theory that would make any youtube upload particularly one containing the ending to the story a far more viable substitute to actually buying the game yoshida has since said that he knew it was illegal even as i was doing it and japans content overseas distribution promotion organization coda said in a separate statement that in principle any use of gameplay videos should require permission from the rights holder