Like many PlayStation 4 exclusives, Until Dawn is a very story-oriented game. Its satisfaction is derived from the adventure it has to share with players, one which can only be explored alone.
With the growing popularity of live streaming sites and YouTube, games like Until Dawn are increasingly looked at with less value by some gamers as the story can be consumed without paying for the game, and its greatest scares can be spoiled in just a few seconds of video. Of course, this means that the player misses out on actually enjoying it first hand, but online video is enough of a problem that Sony is taking action against it.
Twitch has confirmed via Twitter that archiving has been completely disabled for Until Dawn per Sony's request. This means that streams will be incapable of saving highlights and past feed. The Tweet reads:
Note that Twitch wishes for Sony to change its stance.
This is not a common move, and in-fact you'll have trouble finding another publisher that has disabled archiving in the past. Even recent games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Batman: Arkham Knight, which are similarly prone to spoilers, never had archiving disabled. With playthroughs of Until Dawn fetching tens of thousands of views on Twitch within 24 hours of release, Sony has said enough is enough.
Of course, if you really don't want to buy Until Dawn, then you can always reference YouTube, watch the game played live, or rent it. Its eight~ hours of length, $60 price tag, and low presence of replay incentive has made it a tough sell to many.
That's not to say Until Dawn isn't a great game, quite the contrary. Check out our review where we awarded it a 4.0/5 to learn why we think it's a solid game despite its brevity.
