In an unexpected turn of events, numerous Twitch partners have been temporarily banned from the platform for streaming Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity despite the fact that the highly-anticipated title has already been legally released in some regions of the world.
The Nintendo Switch title was scheduled to release on November 20, 2020, but due to timezone differences, fans from Australia, Japan, and Europe could purchase and play the game first.
Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity is a sequel to the original Hyrule Warriors game, which is a spin-off series that merged together The Legend of Zelda and Dynasty Warriors’ mechanics. At the same time, the hack-and-slash title serves as a prequel to the highly-acclaimed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
After Nintendo announced the game earlier this year, some fans were somewhat skeptical about the game because Age of Calamity’s gameplay style is completely different from Breath of the Wild.
However, dedicated fans of the series would still benefit from playing it because it tells the story of what happened in Hyrule 100 years before Breath of the Wild. Without a doubt, fans have a lot of questions that were never answered in the prequel, especially since most of the flashbacks in Breath of the Wild were only Link’s limited memories.
As such, Age of Calamity will most likely provide those answers, as it explains the full story of why and how the Kingdom fell at the hands of Calamity Ganon. In addition, it gives players an idea as to what Hyrule looked like before it experienced destruction and decay.
Understandably, some streamers couldn’t wait to experience Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity alongside their fans. So when the game got officially launched in Japan and Australia, Twitch partners went ahead and streamed the game.
However, for some reason, several Twitch content creators were banned for playing Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity live despite the fact that the game was already legally released in some regions.
From what we know, at least six streamers received a 48-hour ban for simply streaming the game before its official release in the West, including Linkus7, Reversal, and MissKylie.
BRO DID I JUST GET BANNED ON TWITCH FOR AGE OF CALAMITY?! pic.twitter.com/kKdEX6Yhkm
— REVERSAL (@REVERSALx7) November 19, 2020
Trying to figure out what is going on… hang tight everyone. ❤️
— Misskyliee (@MissKyliee) November 19, 2020
I just received a copyright takedown and my account is suspended for 48 Hours from streaming Age of Calamity despite it being out in Australia, Japan, part of Europe and all of Europe in 30 minutes? Holy shit what?
— CLG Linkus7 (@Linkus7) November 19, 2020
The partnered streamers took to Twitter to voice out their confusion and frustration, as Twitch’s ban notice claimed that they were streaming an “unreleased video game” even though each streamer legally owned a copy of the game in question.
Twitch has been undergoing a lot of controversies recently, with the platform currently sending out DMCA takedown notices to countless streamers for copyright violations. Some of the most popular names on Twitch have been banned or are on the edge of getting banned due to this issue.
However, there’s no reason for Twitch to ban its partners for streaming Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity because it has already been released. As a matter of fact, even streamers who live in Japan and Australia themselves received bans even though the game was out for several hours already.
While it may seem like 48 hours isn’t that long, many content creators rely on their Twitch streams for their livelihood, and one of the best ways to earn money is to capitalize on a highly-awaited game such as Age of Calamity.
Fortunately, those streamers who got banned can contact Nintendo if they want to try and resolve the issue. Reaching out to Nintendo may or may not work, but it’s definitely better than just sitting around and waiting until 48 hours have passed.
