

YouTube's Biggest Draw Plays Games, Earns $4 Million a Year - kapkapkap
http://online.wsj.com/articles/youtube-star-plays-videogames-earns-4-million-a-year-1402939896

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JoshTriplett
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/](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_.

~~~
quink
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?

~~~
JoshTriplett
> 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.

~~~
ASneakyFox
These are video games are. There are no intellectual video games. Games are
cheap entertainment targeted mostly to teen boys. Kind of like all those
reality dating tv shows targeted to teen girls.

~~~
quink
Please have a quick look through, I don't know, the last 100 videos and find
me your typical Field of Gears of Duty War Call Battle. Even when he ventures
into something in FPS land, the most recent outing was Shrubbery Simulator.
And it was a funny game concept to see - it was entertaining.

And sure, The Simpsons was from the beginning targeted towards a young male
audience as a cheap form of entertainment too, but how does define the
potential of the work?

No intellectual video games? Please, spare us that train of thought.

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andymcsherry
Link to get around paywall:
[https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&c...](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCEQqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fyoutube-
star-plays-videogames-earns-4-million-a-
year-1402939896&ei=5Z2fU8KoCo6gsQTgy4GIBg&usg=AFQjCNHPKZNgJbz29IN-
rKu5xiIrGMUFcg&bvm=bv.68911936,d.cWc)

~~~
hollerith
Paywall's still there.

~~~
zanok
This should work: [http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:zL--
e67...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:zL--
e6724M8J:stream.wsj.com/story/latest-
headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-556782/&hl=en&gl=us&strip=1)

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sixQuarks
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????

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

~~~
imaginenore
Or HowToBasic.

[https://www.youtube.com/user/HowToBasic](https://www.youtube.com/user/HowToBasic)

~~~
skeletonjelly
yeah but this is a highbrow psychology experiment...or something

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minimaxir
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
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.

~~~
minimaxir
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.

~~~
vinceguidry
> startups who "growth hack" their way to success

These exist? I mean, obviously the 'growth hacking' exists. Is there an
example of a startup who managed to build a real business solely on the basis
of these tactics? One that 'you can't argue with'? I wouldn't call Groupon a
real business.

~~~
MichaelGG
Reddit setup fake accounts/content.

RapGenius seems to have had a guy doing some underhanded promotion.

LinkedIn still does this stuff (or maybe it just started).

Safe to assume there are others.

~~~
vinceguidry
None of these examples are unqualified successes. Neither Reddit nor RapGenius
have business models yet that are making any money. LinkedIn made roughly
$5,200 per employee last year.

~~~
Vigil
Do you have anything to support those numbers? Honestly curious.

~~~
vinceguidry
The LinkedIn number I got from their Wikipedia page. Just divide the net
income of $26 million by their 5k employees.

Article from last year about Reddit's struggle for profitability:

[http://www.businessinsider.com/reddit-is-trying-to-become-
pr...](http://www.businessinsider.com/reddit-is-trying-to-become-
profitable-2013-12)

Article on RapGenius's own struggle:

[http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/01/rap-genius-
enterprise/](http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/01/rap-genius-enterprise/)

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aclements18
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.

~~~
fekberg
> 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.

~~~
quink
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.

~~~
fekberg
'disappear' was probably a wrongly used word. It's money that will never be
his, the income tax is paid to the government and they use it like any other
tax money.

There are different levels taxation in Sweden if I recall correctly the upper
level takes out 70% of the income, that is income earned after $200.000. So if
I understand it correctly that would mean he needs to pay $2.660.000 in taxes
on those $4 million.

I could be wrong though, but that is my understanding of it. If he's got a
corporation where the money goes, that's an entirely different thing. My
assumptions are it's a sole proprietorship or equal to that.

~~~
quink
Wikipedia says 57%. And apparently he lives in the UK these days.

~~~
fekberg
Right, so there's a 57% income tax. But if it's a sole proprietorship he also
has to pay the "employer tax" or whatever it is called.

I know nothing about taxation in UK, but I guess it also depends on where he
has his company (if any) registered. Either way, it's a lot of money even if a
lot of it is tax.

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Kronopath
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](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgMqhEMhVV8)

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levifig
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… :)

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codelust
Had written about this a while ago: [http://frontiernxt.com/hybrid-
entertainment-free-roam-networ...](http://frontiernxt.com/hybrid-
entertainment-free-roam-network-games)

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.

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nickporter
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.

------
free2rhyme214
I prefer Yogscast over this guy.

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

~~~
judk
What are the grumps?

~~~
drdeca
I believe they mean "game grumps".

They also do videos of games.

