So there’s been much in the way of misinformation, rumour and hearsay floating about with regard to the ‘Weapon Guide Express’ videos posted – and then later, unceremoniously un-posted – to my YouTube channel.
Much of the discussion seems to be fueled by hatred for Activision, and apparent disgust at the paid-for content on Elite. Seems even the smallest excuse will ignite this tired debate.
Anyway, I still don’t have a satisfactory answer for the removal. At this juncture I remain unsure of whether I’ve infringed upon any part of my contract with Activision. There exists an agreement between Machinima and Activision made on my behalf – but I’ve not had the pleasure of reading the finer details of any such document.
In any case, even without a contractual infringement it’s difficult to rail against such a judgment when posting gameplay content – technically Activision retain rights to all their game footage, so ultimately hold a trump card.
So, as for the future of Weapon Guide Express – it’s unlikely that the videos will be reinstated in their current form. I’d dearly love to produce a per-weapon series for YouTube to complement the paid-for Elite weapon guides, but this is dependent on finding a format that won’t chafe relations with Activision.
Such is business. Life goes on.
For the record, Weapon Guide Express was designed to be a complement to the Elite weapon guides, not a competitor – they were approached as an entirely separate production in a new format, with new scripts, new graphics, gameplay etc. The Elite vids were originally pitched at a length of around 5-6 minutes apiece, but after feedback cycles were truncated to a neater 3 minute format, closer to the Express video’s 90 second runtime.
As far a similarities are concerned, it’s tough to recant the same statistics for the same weapons without going over similar ground, despite efforts to differentiate.
In any case, I’m going to keep doing what I do – produce gaming-related video content. I’ll leave everyone else to squabble over the details. More videos to follow on XboxAhoy, as soon as I’m able.
Stuart, you are the one with the talent and the voice, so if Activision decides to ban your content they are killing the chicken with the golden eggs…
You have my support, you are a great gamer, producer and such an artist with your work, one day may History Channel set a Weapon Program that my fit your style and voice!
— oscrodmed · 11.11.23, 01:51 PM · #
Some times confilcts are bad :(
good luck stuart
regards cissa95 subscribed during your mw2 vids :)
— Cissa95 · 11.11.23, 02:51 PM · #
I wish you luck in getting some videos back up, I’ve been watching the ones on Elite and quite enjoy them. The thing I miss the most though is the history of the guns you used to do, so if you did that, instead of the specific stats, perhaps that wouldn’t be infringing on anything as it’s completely different content.
— kampai12 · 11.11.23, 04:59 PM · #
Seems a bit unfair to us PC gamers who can’t (and probably never will) access Elite. Activision must realise that surely and YouTube is the only source we have for viewing CoD related guides and tips etc. Shooting yourself in the foot a bit maybe? I would have thought popular videos on their games would make people want their games more and thus make more dosh. Ah well….
— Zephid · 11.11.23, 10:23 PM · #
I feel that I can hear you saying “Such is business. Life goes on.” when I see these words. We’ll keep our fingers crossed with you.
— James · 11.11.23, 11:11 PM · #
Im glad your coming back yo da man
— dim · 11.11.24, 02:50 AM · #
i have an idea, they didn’t ask to remove the bonus footage videos, so you could use that to talk about the commentaries has you do now, and between that you talk about the gun! what do you think?
— sonngoha · 11.11.24, 09:00 AM · #
I find it hilarious how everyone is eager to hate on Activision but still buys the games they publish anyways. If you truly hate, and I mean TRULY hate the company, you wouldn’t give them your money by buying any game they published. Or at least you’d buy it used.
As for whether they own the footage or not, that means nothing. Fair Use and all that. What you’re doing is in a sense educational and thus falls under the grey area where supposedly they can’t touch you. Of course, you live in the UK so that might not work.
Like you said though, this is business, and I applaud how you just roll with it. Good show.
— Twinkieguy · 11.11.24, 02:31 PM · #
Stuart,
I’m sure that many YouTubers will agree with me when I say that this is stupid. I think that Activision is being completely unreasonable. Hopefully they will realize their mistake and will reinstate the Weapon Guide Express.
Good luck!
Sean W. (xxTheAcesWildxx)
— Sean W. · 11.11.24, 02:56 PM · #
I like kampai12 had. The history portion would differentiate the videos to such an extent that it would not be an infringement. But if they are complaining about stats, then that would be impossible to avoid. Stats are going to be roughly the same. I hope bring back the history portion of your videos has it was something I really enjoyed. Cheers
— Spectre · 11.11.24, 07:49 PM · #
stuart i am getting annoyed at all the hate being directed at you because your selling out and what not, your job is something any1 would do their best to hold on to. having said that i dont think your business relationship is a health one if they can just ride over you so easily. i understand you are in negotiations with them right now and i urge you to stand up for yourself because while it will also mean in the future they wont treat you with the same approach they did this time. i think it might make them respect you more right now and see what u bring to their franchise in money and public viewership
— GlobalMalfunction · 11.11.24, 11:30 PM · #
You have our support, Stuart. It’s a shame to see WGE disappear since it was a really high quality, bite sized series. Hopefully there will be a day where both the ELITE and the WGE videos will be available for free consumption.
— jason · 11.11.25, 02:27 AM · #
As a loyal supporter of your videos since the days of your WA2000 guide for Modern Warfare 2, I have only the utmost respect for you remaining on the fence on this issue. When it comes down to it, this is a means to put a roof over your head and food on your table, so if your employer asks you to do something, then, by rights, you ideally have to do it.
I hope, in the future, you will continue to upload gameplay on your AhoyXbox channel and just talk about your favourite parts of the game. I loved that commentary you did on Domination with the SCAR-H back on Modern Warfare 2 where you just talked about the game.
Cheers,
Lucas
— RainEffect · 11.11.27, 01:57 AM · #
I have followed you from the start of your MW2 series and I will support you now as I always have. I was disappointed to see weapon guide express go away as it was a extremely good series, much better than others I’ve seen on the web.
If for some reason this debate continues, would it be possible to upload videos directly to this blog, avoiding YouTube and issuing a video to direct others to this blog as I loved the videos and would love to see them continue. Or, follow sonngoha’s idea. Either would suffice.
Wishing you well,
Daniel,
Fellow brit and recent subscriber but lifetime follower.
— Daniel · 11.11.27, 06:12 PM · #
Best of luck Stuart. If it’s possible, could you possibly elaborate on your contract with Activision, and what you can and can’t post please?
— Peter · 11.11.28, 08:22 AM · #
As much as one can argue that Activision has the right to request the removal it’s hard to see the clear validation in their request. For what it’s worth Ahoy has (for my poor math’s sake) let’s say 150 thousand followers. Modern Warfare 3 sold, on opening day alone, 6.5 million copies. Even if every last follower religiously watches and doesn’t sign up for Elite because of it that still only amounts to 2% of the people that bought the game on release. Saying that wont change anything, true; just more expressing the unfortunate fact that a good product that took hard work will be missed because of some inconsequential number. (I may be missing other details, but topically that’s what makes sense at the moment)
— JRademacher · 11.11.28, 05:51 PM · #
Until this is resolved, we won’t see anything resembling a weapon guide from Stuart. Activision is his employer after all, and if he wants to keep his job (which I’m sure he does) he won’t try to be sneaky and put weapon guides out in some zany way so that he won’t get caught. So, we must wait until this conflict is resolved, I hope Stuart is working very hard to get his videos back up and continue production (I’m sure he is). Other than that, another update on the situation would be nice :)
— Kyle · 11.11.29, 10:01 PM · #
you are a great youtuber and activison is full of sh*t you have full support
— Matthew · 11.12.03, 01:41 AM · #