Words to Know - What is a Let's Play?

A “Let's Play” is a general term referring to a recorded playthrough of a videogame for the purpose of entertainment or instruction. Usually the recording will be edited to remove filler content and minimize showing parts of the playthrough that would not be interesting to viewers. For this reason gameplay that is played live on streaming platforms are generally seen as being distinct from pre-edited Let's Plays and for clarity's sake are instead referred to as Livestreams, though that term is not exclusive to videogame content. Let's Plays will usually include commentary by the person or people playing the game, either recording as they play or inserted over the footage later. A second camera in-picture setup showing the players face and reactions as they play is also common among Let's Players, particularly for horror games.

Let's Plays exist in a legal grey area, since the publisher of the game retains the distribution rights to any media assets, including video footage. However, most publishers allow and even encourage Let's Plays as they are valuable marketing tools.

Thanks for reading Words to Know. I haven't posted in awhile so I wanted to toss something up here to let you all know I'm still around. I've been working on some ideas for the blog but they won't be ready for awhile, so in the meantime I'll be continuing to make smaller posts sporadically and I'll post an update when I've got my plans straightened out. Until next time!