Let's Plays and Full Plays are already huge but they will be an entire INDUSTRY as recording becomes more ubiquitous and the video streaming matures. You've already got hundreds of millions of views right now, it will be massive when they organize it into a consolidated network with a unified community instead of scattered throughout youtube/twitch/etc.
You've got guys legitimately making millions off of this and this is just in its infancy, I don't see it going anywhere. Not a fad.
I disagree that it's pirating, because I feel that you're only seeing a unique playthrough of the game and you're not being given the *actual* game to play. However, I do see how they could argue that being able to see *any* permutation of the game is still owned by them because without them creating the game, you wouldn't even be able to have that specific performance.
It's a tricky issue. Either they'll try to create some service for people to watch as many LPs as they want or even some kind of sliding fee for certain games like GTA/Last of Us. A Netflix for LP would've sounded absurd a few years ago, but they're growing and it doesn't seem so absurd now. Maybe some extremely popular games will have some premium fee where you can watch a professionally produced playthrough for like 2% of the cost, as if it were a series.
I don't agree with game developers getting 100% of all that Youtube money because the Let's Players are creating their own legitimate content, it's like an AMV in that sense. But with someone like PewdiePie becoming a multi-millionaire (he will not be the last), he can afford to break some bread with the game developers whose games he played to make himself rich.
Only thing is exactly how much should developers be entitled to?
Edit: I can easily see them make games specifically designed for Let's Plays too, it makes a lot of sense.
