PSA: streamers might want to disable music in Bayonetta 3 before playing

Image: PlatinumGames / Nintendo

Bayonetta 3 launches today and streamers might need to adjust some settings before they happily dig their seven-inch gun-barreled heels into the game, as one of the songs might get you slapped with a copyright strike.

One of the prevailing themes of the Bayonetta series was that there’s always a pop-y remix of a classic song that accompanied our bundled busty bad bitch Bayonetta as she stomped demons, angels, and now, scientific horrors to death. The original Bayonetta featured “Fly Me to the Moon,” and Bayonetta 2’s theme was “Moon River.” Bayonetta 3 keeps up the tradition of remixing the golden oldies with “Moonlight Serenade,” and that’s where content creators might get into a bit of trouble.

In its review embargo for the game, Nintendo explained that, because of the “Moonlight Serenade” copyright, “any footage containing the song may be subject to copyright claims.” The Verge followed up asking if Bayonetta 3 had a streamer mode that might mitigate the issue but has yet to receive a reply. In my review copy of the game, I noted no option for a streamer mode — only toggles for music and sound volume.

Streamer-friendly modes for games are slowly gaining prominence in the wake of trigger-happy algorithms and risk-avoidant platforms taking down anything with a whiff of copyrighted music — even striking the copyright holders themselves in some cases. Usually a streamer mode will replace the music in question with something license-free or, as in the case of 2021’s Guardians of the Galaxy, straight silence.

As for Bayonetta, the theme song usually plays for every battle, which might have made a less-than-ideal streaming experience if you’re worried about muted audio or a YouTube copyright strike. However, because of Bayonetta 3’s funky timey-wimey plot, the song doesn’t come up too much in the game’s latter half. Still, streamers or anyone else planning any Bayonetta 3 content, might wanna turn down the music volume just in case.

Bayonetta 3 is out now on the Nintendo Switch.