Sony tries to trademark Let’s Play and pisses off the Internet

In the video game industry, it doesn’t take a lot to piss off your entire fan base. And Sony is about to re-learn this lesson with one trademark request.

San Mateo, California-based Sony Computer Entertainment of America is trying to trademark the term “Let’s Play” to represent “electronic transmission and streaming of video games via global and local computer networks; streaming of audio, visual, and audiovisual material via global and local computer networks.”

Let’s Play is a general term on the Internet for streamers, YouTubers, and other video content creators who play video games while commentating. The concept of a Let’s Play video has a long history, with its modern iteration sparked by the popular Japanese television show GameCenter CX, where comedian Shinya Arino would painfully try to play through Nintendo Famicom games in one try.

From there, forum members from Something Awful began running a similar format and coined the term “Let’s Play” for the phenomenon. The video game community has been using it freely ever since.