Co-founder of Campo Santo, Sean Vanaman, has tweeted that the studio will file a DMCA takedown request to Youtube for popular influencer PewDiePie.
We're filing a DMCA takedown of PewDiePie's Firewatch content and any future Campo Santo games.
— Sean Vanaman (@vanaman) September 10, 2017
The move follows a recent live stream where PewDiePie used a racial slur to express frustration in a game, which he quickly tried to rebut. "There is a bit of leeway you have to have with the internet when u (sic) wake up every day and make video games," said Vanaman on Twitter. "There’s also a breaking point. I am sick of this child getting more and more chances to make money off of what we make."
PewDiePie’s recent actions have caused a lot of controversies, with the influencer back in February 2017 using anti-semitic words in a video. He intended the skit as a satire of the absurdity of people being paid via funding website, Fiverr, who will say anything to make money. The event led to Disney and YouTube pulling sponsorship from PewDiePie’s channel. Following this, the influencer claimed he was going to become a family-friendly channel given YouTube’s rule changes leading to video demonetisation.
Campo Santo, via Vanaman, does admit that it is ‘complicit’ in previous actions, with PewDiePie’s coverage of its game, Firewatch, actively boosting sales. This is the first time, that we’ve seen publically anyway, a studio has taken deliberate action against a large influencer such as PewDiePie. Although Microsoft previously dropped support for YouTuber and entertainer KSI following a controversial video from Eurogamer’s EGX 2012 event.