YouTube's Biggest Draw Plays Games, Earns $4 Million a Year

http://online.wsj.com/articles/youtube-star-plays-videogames-earns-4-million-a-year-1402939896

by kapkapkap • 12 years ago

49 53 12 years ago

online.wsj.com

minimaxir3• 12 years ago

PewDiePie is an interesting case. The YouTube gaming community envies his popularity so much that nearly every gaming commentator has tried to emulate his tactics: face-cams which overlaying game footage, exaggerated reactions to on-screen content, merchandizable catch-phrases, and nicknames for viewer fandom.

Some have been nearly as successful as PewDiePie (Tobuscus is one), but PewDiePie has effectively created a content quality black hole on YouTube.

krisgee• 12 years ago

It works, 4 million dollars a year can attest to that. So even though I intensely dislike it I can't really argue against it.

minimaxir3• 12 years ago

The same "I can't argue with it because it works" logic can be used for startups who "growth hack" their way to success even if it means harassing their users with interrupting modals and deceptive links. That doesn't make it unimpeachable.

Atleast with PewDiePie, you know what to expect.

nikster2• 12 years ago

I don't watch that channel obviously but he's having fun and entertaining lots of people.

I can't find anything wrong with that to be honest. It's not about making money for me, it's about how you make money. He's not scamming anyone, he's just providing content and people choose to watch it. And it's probably still better than most of what's on TV.

jerf• 12 years ago

Welcome to the lowest common denominator. No sarcasm, no cynicism, it simply is what it is.

If you want something more, there's a ton of that, too. On the internet, the LCD doesn't have to crowd out the "better" stuff (for whatever personal definition of "better" you may like)... there's bandwidth enough for all. Which eliminates the biggest reason to hate it.

sixQuarks• 12 years ago

When I was a kid, I always promised myself I would never become one of those lame adults that said things like "kids these days, look at the junk they listen/watch etc...!".

PewDiePie has single-handily made me break that promise. WTF are kids watching these days????

minimaxir3• 12 years ago

If you think PewDiePie is ridiculous but still popular with kids, you won't believe YouTube's Minecraft subculture.

imaginenore• 12 years ago

Or HowToBasic.

https://www.youtube.com/user/HowToBasic

ktsmith• 12 years ago

My son and all of his friends, ages 5-7, all love evantubehd and stampylonghead and I just don't get it. The weirder part for me is then they pretend they are making youtube shows when they are playing.

cheald• 12 years ago

That was basically "twerking" for me.

niix• 12 years ago

It's true. This is why websites like Twitch.tv are extremely popular and profitable as well.

zobzu• 12 years ago

yeah its pretty random but apparently does 4mi view per vid. imma join ur ranks.

nikster2• 12 years ago

I have a 7 year old son who loves nothing more than youtube videos of a guy playing Zombies vs. Plants and commenting on it.

Of course being a kid his video time is strictly limited.

But the fact that he would choose that activity on his iPad vs. playing all sorts of games makes me think there is something huge there. Huge as in the future of mass entertainment.

You know all those cheesy Sci-Fi books and movies where new sports are invented and masses of people cheering them?

This is the future. PewDiePie is competing with Formula 1 racing, World Cup Football, and prime time TV. He's got more people watching than most TV shows.

In some ways this this is just classic entertainment - good looking guy being funny, doing funny stuff. Take out YouTube and video games and it's the same formula for entertainment we've seen in the last 100 years.

PS: And yes you should stick with your promise.

jsnell• 12 years ago

A colleague of mine told exactly the same story about his ~8yo son (even down to the game being Plants vs. Zombies). I thought he was exaggerating until I observed my 7yo nephew, who would spend the whole day watching MineCraft videos from YouTube if possible. Despite not really even playing MineCraft.

I don't understand the appeal at all, but you're almost certainly totally right that there's be something huge there.

rasz_pl• 12 years ago

pretty much this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK8ednS0skQ

fekberg4• 12 years ago

I'm close to 30 (oh my, can't believe I just said that) and I still find some of his videos amusing. It's like any type of tv-show, sitcom or movie: we all like different things and have different humor. His channel appeals to a lot of people and he's probably inspiring a lot of people (hopefully).

jimejim• 12 years ago

To be fair, many of us used to watch He-man and a variety of other really bad tv before the internet came along. Now, there's just way more options to waste time.

It gets worse though. My daughter likes to watch some girl make up stories with barbie dolls and other similarly sized characters. Every one of the videos I've looked at has millions of views, so she's not alone. It's a little weird.

andymcsherry• 12 years ago

Link to get around paywall: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&c...

hollerith• 12 years ago

Paywall's still there.

zanok• 12 years ago

This should work: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:zL--e67...

notlisted• 12 years ago

Worked for me, thanks.

JoshTriplett2• 12 years ago

What makes me really sad is people who think this is the height of Let's Play video quality. There are quite a few higher-quality channels out there. http://lparchive.org/ is a good place to start. A few recommendations: Frankomatic (adventure games), Bobbin Threadbare (adventures and others), SimplySimon (Mega Man games), Deceased Crab (indie and lesser-known games), retsupurae (specifically their adventure game MST3Kings such as King's Quest 5/6), and Video Games Awesome (miscellaneous games streamed blind but with very high production values and an interactive chat).

I also highly recommend the annual Speed Demos Archive charity marathons, especially the races and challenges. For instance, several top Super Metroid players racing for 45 minutes and finishing within seconds of each other, or players completing Punch-Out and Super Punch-Out blindfolded.

quink7• 12 years ago

Just a guess... you were born before 1982, right? I think most of this really is just an age gap. I don't think that PewDiePie is the height of Let's Play quality (and definitely not any of those you listed) - that honour might as well go to Scott Manley playing Kerbal Space Program - but he's not as terrible by a long, long stretch as some in here make him out to be.

"content quality black hole", "I intensely dislike it", "WTF are kids watching these days"

You know, there's a reason he's popular. And sure, 80% of his output aren't going to match your quality filter. But the remaining 20% will. And, if nothing else, he's a cultural influence. Here's an idea: Turn off your brain and just watch some highly rated or very popular ones in the background. Can't be worse than the vast majority of TV you (and I) watched in the 90s, all things considered.

Edit: And, if nothing else, two decades from now whoever is going to be working with you as a statistical inevitability by then when you're older will have grown up on PewDiePie (or one would hope, something a bit more educational) in the same way that you did on The Simpsons?

JoshTriplett2• 12 years ago

Just a guess... you were born before 1982, right?

Nope; I'm in my 20s, not 30s.

And sure, 80% of his output aren't going to match your quality filter. But the remaining 20% will.

Quantity has a quality all its own, but no, even 20% seems unlikely.

And, if nothing else, he's a cultural influence.

Which brings me back to "What makes me really sad".

Turn off your brain

No. I'm not a fan of "mindless" entertainment when there's so much that I don't have to turn off my brain to enjoy.

BESebastian2• 12 years ago

Speaking as someone who is in their 30s, I couldn't care less about the silly voices, the endless repetitive churning out of videos about the same indie games (God knows I'm still watching Bisnap do endless playthroughs of Risk of Rain and Binding of Isaac) or the clearly very young fanbase. Those things don't really bother me.

Now making jokes about rape and the holocaust? PewDiePie can go fuck himself.

nickporter• 12 years ago

Well I'm glad he's getting rewarded for his original content. I no longer have time to play video games anymore, so this guy, along with Robbaz, Day9 and GameGrumps are pretty much the only way I get my gaming fix.

I'm also really interested in apps/games (ex. strawpoll.me) that let viewers participate in their stream. Seems like a good use case for meteor.

searine• 12 years ago

Ehh, I like the grumps better. I feel like there is more effort put into the comedy.

judk• 12 years ago

What are the grumps?

drdeca• 12 years ago

I believe they mean "game grumps".

They also do videos of games.

aclements18• 12 years ago

Not to take anything away from this young man (and Maker Studios) success here, but I thought it might be a good time to point out how YouTube math works. If his channel generates $4 million in ad revenue, Google/YouTube keeps about 45% and issues a check to Maker for the remaining $2.2m. Maker then takes another 10-30%.

Still a substantial sum in the end, but I felt the title may potentially be misleading.

fekberg4• 12 years ago

The 24-year-old Mr. Kjellberg, who created PewDiePie five years ago, has parlayed his persona into a brand name that pulls in the equivalent of $4 million in ad sales a year, most of it pure profit.

If it's $4 million "mostly profit" I would take that as what he gets before taxes. If he pays his taxes in Sweden I think closer to 70% of that would disappear.

quink7• 12 years ago

What do you mean, 'disappear'? I'm pretty sure taxes charged on income doesn't just flow into government and then suddenly vanish without a trace.

The 24-year-old Mr. Kjellberg, who created PewDiePie five years ago, has parlayed his persona into a brand name that pulls in the equivalent of $4 million in ad sales a year, most of it pure profit.

And I'm pretty sure the title isn't misleading - it's $4 million after YouTube's cut, which seems to check out, having cross-correlated other sources.

skeletonjelly2• 12 years ago

What does Maker do though? Advertising? Seems as though he does the post production on his own videos.

Kronopath• 12 years ago

Here's a video with some interesting theories about how PewDiePie, and other gaming channels, are so popular because they're effectively hyper-tuned for Youtube's promotion algorithms:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgMqhEMhVV8

levifig• 12 years ago

I'm a 32-year old who has recorded some LP videos and who, not recording anymore, still watches other 30-some playing Minecraft on YouTube… :) I don't particularly jive with PewDiePie and the like but I watch others like Etho (ethoslab), BdoubleO (bdoubleo100) and a slew of others… :) It's fun!

As a developer-designer, I've had a few ideas around potential services around this stuff that I wish I had the time and resources to execute because I can totally see this market exploding right now… :)

free2rhyme214• 12 years ago

I prefer Yogscast over this guy.

codelust• 12 years ago

Had written about this a while ago: http://frontiernxt.com/hybrid-entertainment-free-roam-networ...

Kjellberg maybe the biggest personality, but there is a significant group of people who make a decent living out of doing this.

I do strongly believe that this will become a major genre in reality television/entertainment. And I am not taking into account the other universe called DOTA here.

YouTube's Biggest Draw Plays Games, Earns $4 Million a Year

Related Stories