Dreams and they're not happy. Dreams is a PlayStation 4 exclusive that features a near limitless editing suite in which both beginner and advanced creators can make games beyond their wildest imaginations, such as a Dreams version of Avatar: The Last Airbender. However, some of these player-created games are still being subjected to copyright law.
Developer Media Molecule announced Dreams back at the PlayStation 4 reveal in 2013. Seven years later and Dreams is finally here, but throughout the game's development, PlayStation fans were largely confused as to what the game actually was. Upon Dreams' release, Media Molecule's ambiguous plan for the game was made clear. Dreams launched to near universal praise from critics, with many citing the creation suite as a major step forward for making game development accessible to the masses.
One Dreams creator who goes by "Piece of Craft" has recently revealed on Dreams creators are already being hired by game developers, it seems Nintendo is much more comfortable bringing those bright minds to the courtroom rather than invite them to the studio. Check out Piece of Craft's announcement below:
In replying to a question that asked if they were ed directly by Nintendo, Piece of Craft said "Yup have an email just not showing it because has my name." Regardless of the legality of such an action, squashing fan creations like this is likely bad for Nintendo's public image. It is worth noting that there's a huge difference between recreating Mario games in Dreams and giving Nintendo free press with YouTube "Let's Play" videos, and the recreation of Nintendo properties in a game like Dreams may at some point directly effect the bottom-line of the company. Although many would argue that Nintendo isn't making money off of older titles like Super Mario 64, lawyers would surely argue back that the recreation of the title disrupts interest in buying newer titles.
Nintendo critics have piled on the company for its continued attacks on content creators, but it's hard to knock the company from protecting its game IP's. That being said, it would be nice to live in a world where the creativity of Dreams creators continues to live on completely unrestricted and unrestrained by copyright law. For now, however, s like Piece of Craft will have to be cognizant of the corporate might of Nintendo when unleashing their imaginations in Dreams.
Source: Piece of Craft/Twitter
