This is posted long past but I just wanted to say my piece.
The news came out of nowhere with hints of big news and that's it.
But nobody expected this.
I'm more of a casual watcher of Watcher than anything else.
This video just reeks of corporate and is clearly scripted with the false hipster to be relatable when they are anything but, revealing their true colors as ambitious business-poor TV producers wannabes who haven't even caught the eye of big networks or even in the YouTube ecosystem with just nary a 3 million subscribers that is not much to be popular enough to catch the eye of most popular creators like Moist.
What I didn't expect was this big business decision that doesn't have the stability they need with their demographic expecting to cough up that much.
Yes, there are entitled people and this is a small business and a business nonetheless. They want to be creative and allowed to spread their wings.
The situation is nuanced but at the same time, they are failing to see the reasons why this isn't working.
They want to spread their wings and make more creative stuff than just simply using a black background with respective colorful conversations.
That is fine on its own and understandable for any creative.
But jumping straight to a streaming service is a bad decision that bites them in the ass.
At the time, they had not responded to anything, only retweeting news articles and disabling comments to the pinned comment on their video. They are deleting comments for Steven to step down as CEO and Ryan helping deleting on IG.
Putting future formerly free media behind a paywall and much less not allowing discoverability is not the way to go about it. How the hell are people going to discover you now that they learn that to see more, they have to pay after seeing the first episode on YouTube?
That is tanking even more potentially new viewers who don't have the cash to pay for that.
This is a drastic move with no trickling down. People are still expecting to cough up for another streaming service in a world where streaming services are criticized and in overabundance that people cannot afford them all at the same time or none at all in an economy.
Also, they have said in the original video and news articles they retweeted that the backlogged videos will be unlisted and put behind a paywall. Don't let them say otherwise that keeping everything up online was the plan. No, they backpedaled.
I know a section wants to give them the benefit of the doubt but don't let them say otherwise about this!
I would like to give artists money but I also worry for my own budget so I often pick the tip jar at the lowest.
This is the equivalent of career suicide because when streaming services are criticized as the new cable and the astronomically high prices with everyone getting minimum wages or below, why is a new streaming service the right one for your business?
This is such a bad business decision in every conceivable way. It's as if whoever they consulted wanted to sabotage them. There wasn't any way they could make this a feasible way to continue.
There is no Nebula or even Amazon Prime decision here. They want to be Nebula but without the infrastructure to get there, not when they have a measly 2 million subs that don't have the history like CollegeHumor that allowed DropOut to survive due to rotation of shows.
The Watcher doesn't have enough popular shows to have a DropOut equivalent. They didn't even try a Corridor Crew route either. Just jump straight to streaming service without anything building up to it.
And that's not getting into their international fans either. The new streaming service is entirely region-locked, forcing other countries' fans to get a VPN to even get access to it.
And they are still going on tour internationally! Hard not to when so much money plunged into it.
Worst yet, they can't backtrack this so easily. They sunk too much money into creating this streaming service to let it die quietly. The streaming service is gonna die especially when it's off-site from YouTube where there is little discoverability to be made.
I found artists through Instagram and usually follow the public ones.
I had liked Steven in the past but there is only so much creativity he can achieve with his food shows that are expensive as heck. Steven just isn't that charismatic and unfortunately wants to look the part of wealth.
The fact the video focused on the expensive vacation Steven is going on is not much better. Steven's words have more impact because he's the CEO and he's the one who said that it's affordable to everyone.
It's very easy to blame Steven as the perp of the colossal fuck-up with his expensive lifestyle but let's not forget that while Shane and Ryan stepped down as CEOs, they are still part of the board meeting that created this mess, and higher-ups themselves.
Nobody had let Doug Walker slide when it was revealed that he was the final nail in the coffin for Holly to lose her job. Shane and Ryan are still responsible for this mistake just as much as Steven is. Andrew and Adam were recently got back on so they don't exactly have the same power that Steven does.
The colossal mistake they can't walk back unlike the bit of walking back the content they were originally pulling and now staying on YouTube does not make up for the racism Steven and Ryan experienced in the wake of the disaster. They shouldn't have to experience that in response to a mistake they can't take back when they sunk so much money into it.
They aren't greedy capitalist monsters, but content creators biting off more than they can chew because of their own poor business decisions and inability to budget accordingly but spend needlessly.
Well, I can't afford most streaming services either. I'd rather donate to charity during CDawgVA's Cyclethon than pay so much for a streaming service that I cannot pay 6 dollars monthly. I can't even pay 10 dollars monthly for a sticker club as an international member.
He wants to travel and eat expensive food and that is it. I'm sorry but him by himself isn't that great when I like it better he bounces off better with the people with them. I like it when he was creative on Dish Granted though the unnecessary no-expense is not good.
The entirety of Watcher is built from the Unsolved fans who watch Puppet History and Ghost Files.
They had said before that they are getting off the ground and isn't exactly profitable.
Then why is hiring 25-plus people making that a decision for them?
There are other ways to gain revenue.
Keith's hot sauce had gained them revenue as well as Eugene's other pursuits in the creative field. The Try Guys still stumble as they did lock the Without the Recipe finales behind a paywall but did eventually release it after the contract was up.
And they are barely keeping the lights on despite being bigger than the Watcher who doesn't have the stability to create a streaming service.
Is the GMM method not going to work for you?
The DropOut method seems more appealing to what they want to do but they don't have enough content and cast to get that going not when their company is comparably young.
It was a goddamn miracle DropOut did well and the same cannot be said for Watcher who can only get more content in a year if that.
The Watcher isn't likely ever going to release any future content beyond the first episode eventually.
They are less greedy and more delusional about the way they want their growth and expansion. Again, there is nothing wrong with creativity and wanting more film production quality but it's another when in this economy, they have to do right by people in their demographic who can't afford this.
Most people can't get Patreon to people they want to support. Especially when the value has to make it worth it.
And rotating three shows isn't enough content to justify the price point for your streaming service.
I consistently stayed in Mamobot and Nuwa's pin clubs in the tip jars tier on Patreon. The value of their tip jars is so doable at 3 bucks monthly.
I can only afford to stay in pin clubs of tip jars and only go for rewards if I like it. I've been going for stickers of designs I like but not enough to get them as pins.
I understand artists getting paid their worth. Not every artist can run their own shop and can only do commissions and a subscription service that is doable for everyone and themselves that allows them to get paid if they are either tangible merchandise or not.
I'm considering running a small business with testing out some stickers and P4P stickers for now. I'm only considering making ORV stickers made from the official art for testing purposes because ORV rotted the brain and I needed art of them that is not my computer wallpaper. I don't think that's unusual since I saw people make duel disk stickers from official art. If I ever decide to sell them, it will be at P4P prices for stickers. Not the expensive prices for the P4P pins (to be fair, I often see PoP P4P pins which are expensive whereas the flat ones are less so though the cost would go up for effects and such), just the stickers I saw are just five dollars.
I'm a major tip jar supporter of Mamobot and MadebyNuwa, whose clubs I can't fail to miss. If I miss a singular preorder drop that is exclusive to pin club members, I will cry. I am incredibly thankful I managed to snag my Fashion Gardevoir Shiny Mimikyu and Free to Dream Yzma as I know they will be popular and indeed when the latter came in hands for the April shop update, it sold out fast. Just thank god, I don't have to worry about that due to my perk as a monthly Patreon member who always got the early bird discount. I also got access to the Patreon-exclusive Moon Prism Project Saturn which is a beauty and zero regrets buying her if he does Moon and/or Serenity, I’ll think about it but if he does PGSM, it’s an immediate preorder no matter the budget.
Tip jar is better for me hence why I can pick that. For any pin clubs that don't have tip jars, it's unfortunate I can't join you. I like your art but I can't justify spending that much when other pin clubs justified that price. Mamobot and Nuwa are just too good to me by their affordability as long as I'm selective.
That's the thing about pin clubs that have the pin and sticker bundle or a sticker club with the sticker as the reward for Patreon. They offer physical rewards which includes the shipping that is already included in the tier. I love my Nuwa Sakura Kinomoto and Mamobot PokePageant Dragonair with the random sparkle magnets along with the monthly discount I got after I paid the first of every month which was November and January.
These are physical rewards that are standard for enamel pin clubs. If I like an art but not enough as a pin since I'm not collecting that (having an expensive Hawks figure is enough for me in terms of MHA merchandise, I just want the Dabihawks pin for my OTP board and because it hits so many things I like about the ship), it's enough for me.
Watcher has their own Patreon that is losing just as much from hearing the announcement. Now only their paid members were refusing, access to everything that was blocked off from them with no early access and to even get a shoutout, pay 100, every fan had to be paying rendering uselessness of Patreon, and not just Patreon ones too who have to pay on top of that.
They weren’t even grandfathered in, forced to pay essentially a 10% difference so double dipping. They no longer have the perks they were promised or once had, being forced to pay twice rather than having a reward for being loyal paying fans for years.
At least loyal fans of Mamobot with their reward points can get Mamo Reward freebies so nice and sweet rewards I refused to use the discount I could’ve gotten just so I could get closer to a reward. You also can accumulate points fast too with 5 points a dollar spent.
Even when there are no reward points for Nuwa on her website, her art is still a reward for fans and she’s on time too.
Mamobot is an outlier that not a lot of other reliable creators are like him. Self-funding first pin productions before preorders start is unusual as even Nuwa had samples on her Patreon newsletter but since she’s on time, it’s well into production by the time she posted the samples.
Also, their updates are surprises and can kill me. The double whammy of two preorders in a month for these shops killed me.
There are literally no perks to Patreon. Patreon to Watcher is just another money pot rather than I don't know to advertise Patreon in your videos. Make more exclusive content to Patreon.
Not helped they refused to promote it, leaving many including colleagues and peers unaware of their existence.
The pin clubs I'm in offer perks such as early access, exclusives, and a discount in the higher tiers. The Patreon of Watcher doesn't seem to offer many perks outside of early access and whatever Watcher Weekly+ is supposed to be and yet they don’t promote it to any potential fan who is willing to spare them monthly.
At the moment, I can't pay for Mamo's Twitch subscription even though I can just watch the recaps if it came to that.
Watcher doesn't have enough content to even get me to want to get the subscription. Their current popular shows don't have enough in rotation to get that through whereas DropOut does.
Rhett and Link took twenty years just for them to feel secure enough to take a hit if a creative idea fell through.
Watcher doesn't have any of that. They aren't even as big as the Try Guys. They don't even have enough to get their own TV show, not yet.
They want big productions and I get why the DropOut route seems appealing but without taking into consideration what is DropOut and what they have on their own as well as what led them there.
Having just three shows for six bucks monthly is not a good deal. There is not enough content on there for customer satisfaction to browse and choose. There is not much when only one person is gonna watch. At least my cousins who got their Disney Plus accounts consistently watch it with their families and turn it on for us at family gatherings.
I get customer satisfaction when accessing the Mamo and Nuwa pin clubs where I can get exclusive designs and have preorder access to exclusives and designs that are locked behind a paywall like the Disney ones.
Watcher are out of touch with their fans' wants and their own wants. They want bigger and better film productions whereas fans are here for banter and silliness.
They can be that without losing the aspect fans love but it seemed Watcher is so focused on film productions they forgot what got them there.
I get YouTube is not conducive to content creators much less for a team of more than 2 hence Nebula being a thing. Nebula has exclusive stuff on there that is legitimately peer-reviewed to make sure that it's legit and refuses to allow any mass campaigns to get in. James Somerton got into a Discord server just for Nebula and blew it because he's not the one on there and not the many queer creators on there apparently.
It’s just for them, they felt that it’s the only way.
But they didn’t lay out any groundwork or understand the circumstances of who they were attempting to follow. They want to be big when they are still young while it took decades of goodwill, luck, and management for their peers to make it a success.
They want all the money and creative control for themselves while increasingly becoming out of touch with fans whose wishes don’t align with theirs.
Fans have no problem supporting them but what fans didn’t expect is to be treated as customers who won’t get their value now.
All their fans felt like they were taken for granted for Watcher expected the Patrons to follow them and severely miscalculated. They severely miscalculated the turn of events.
Especially knowing they have the UK live tour which their British fans who can't pay for the service in addition to getting a VPN will give them an icy reception after the news they were given.
So far their peers and colleagues have been diplomatic or rather Hank Green and the Nebula CEO. Note that none of them argue that is a good idea.
Except for fans who are giving the benefit of the doubt and people with the privilege of having another streaming service on top of what they have.
Oh, and some of their friends, adjacent to them that is, who don't seem to realize the problems like their wives, investors, and Simu Liu. Yeah, they are his friends but they are failing to realize due to their cushy lifestyle that not everyone can afford and the value is not great if it's just four episodes in a month. They argue just how much they are struggling and worst yet in their London stories, they are partying it up.
Obviously, the Watcher team sees it as a good business decision.
They are in for a rude awakening come Tuesday. Well, make that immediate given they have to film the update before leaving for the UK.
Their friends who do see the problems are being diplomatic or not saying a word or simply not arguing that it's a good idea like the other friends are doing. Probably because they had run into troubles like what Watcher wanted to do because, for example, it's only after the Ned debacle, that the Try Guys found themselves in a spot they can begin anew and they are barely keeping the lights on top of it.
This is goddamn hilarious because, through their sheer blinding arrogance, they disrespected their peers and colleagues in the industry. Really, Ryan, you don't think that since its inception, YouTube doesn't have TV quality?
Try Guys got the Food Network show based on one of their most popular shows on YouTube and produced a documentary about themselves.
Quinta Brunson made Abbott Elementary, the sitcom that was heavily praised.
Rosanna Pansino was on several Food Network shows as a host and a judge.
Bo Burham is one of the most well-respected comedians today and he got his start from YouTube.
The Hot Ones had a TV game show and were well-respected in their own right.
For fuck's sake, Aboard in Japan and Trash Taste got specials that are shot so well and always anticipated. An ambitious Hawaii special was released right after the Watcher apology. Just look at Abroad in Japan's Journey Across Japan road trip through biking or car depending on the conditions to make it safe.
Markiplier is making his own movie so anticipated after his Emmy-nominated movie before.
Talk to Me, the hit horror film was made by YouTubers RackaRacka.
Short films from YouTube went on to premiere at film festivals and even in theaters.
Web series of well-known television and movies existed on YouTube for decades.
There have been movies and television made on a budget yet their dedication, creativity, and passion shine through.
They truly lost all reason why fans love them in the first place with their ambition forgoing everything because they want it fast.
The overall snobbery about YouTube more than just the restrictions and the very fact it's a large platform that Watcher is not considering is a telltale sign of just how much the traditional media versus YouTube has become with Watcher being part of the Hollywood out of touch problem. Watcher cannot see that due to their overspending and adversarial opposition to any changes to their creative process, they think they can just be funded in another way without seeing the nuances of how DropOut or any of their peers even stay relevant.
Instead, they lost so much repute in their big-headed arrogance to think they can do the same while putting down their peers for the snobbery they show when their peers show they want creativity too in the traditional media sphere but TV rarely wants them unless it's an idea that is profitable or interesting like Try Guy's Without a Recipe.
They overproduced their shows, thinking bigger productions equals better quality. They threw money that Buzzfeed threw money at just for anything to stick. However, they are a small business that is too ambitious to balance any kind of budget. They cannot see that if you make content good enough for TV, they would be on TV as indicated by the Try Guys. Too blinded by large productions that they don’t create enough good content for TV to reach out and make it based on them. Honestly, they want a blank check no questions asked, and no interference or feedback from anyone.
They spoke about investors and wanting to be more than just a company that makes content online. They want to be more. They want to be TV producers and stars, having their own shows to the point of dropping their seasons once a week.
However, it should be noted that TV still has to answer to executives, advertisers, etc so these guys are blind and arrogant enough to believe they want it to be ad-free. Artists aren't beholden to that much freedom if they want to stay in business.
Again, in the pin community, there are popular franchises pin makers are in to make business and they have multiple exclusives in what they do.
Instead of I don’t know, instead of relying on investors, get a rich benefactor who is willing to fund everything at this point rather than forcing your fans to fund everything from on, only a fraction to boot. I’m sure there’s some rich guy that you rubbed shoulders with who is willing to throw money at you because they like you. They wouldn’t care if you’re wasting his money.
The Try Guys noted that they wanted to try something like that and indeed for the whole of 2024, there are monthly releases of planned stuff. One month was dedicated to pilots for example and better yet they budgeted all of it better than Watcher. They have to budget for the expensive ingredients for the yearly Without a Recipe.
They had said in the videos about the beta streamer to work out the kinks though not saying that only three people at a time in the same account can watch it and there was no app or anything ready for launch unless they considered the end of May to be the actual launch.
They speak of fans as customers with the Silicon Valley bro speak.
Treating fans like ATM instead of considering other revenue streams, burning all but one stream of revenue, and only leaving their old library up due to backlash now a passive source without any sponsorships shows a lack of respect for their audience and fans as if disrespecting their peers and colleagues aren’t enough that they are the sole filmmaking YouTubers out there.
Patreon was screwed over the most here, the willingly paying fans who knew there was a way to pay directly. Again, no advertisement for Patreon rendering it useless as if it wasn’t bare bones.
They revealed they could care less they are discarding over 90% of the fandom just as long as the numbers are met on their service. Fans are numbers as they used fan submissions in a large number of their series which I have to mention they had done before the big announcement.
No respect for fans and their audience, no respect for their peers and colleagues in the industry, and were so far up their own asses about their deserved TV shows they refused to listen to reason or advice from people who were in the industry longer than them and even nuance to what made DropOut the way it did.
Their reputation is flushed down the toilet with their brand totally destroyed, revealing cracks of their lack of business acumen and forethought for arrogant ambitious men who want more from their young company who
Now with the apology up, I still say they are bad at business and finances. They walked back everything instead of forcing fans to choose. The streaming service is essentially Patreon+. The compromises are fine yet there are many problems.
They still won’t get a resub from me precisely because it should’ve been done from the start. Their original video had them emphasizing the Hollywood of it they want.
Fans can see them just as actors now, as their characters clearly now. Their image shattered in the eyes of many with Shane taking the hardest hence sitting in the center to draw the eye. They are allowed to follow whatever dreams and whatever expensive food they want but I don't have to be with them as a casual viewer, not when they left me conflicted about how I know about them from their Buzzfeed days. Not help that their initial response was simply their closest loved ones defending them, revealing that they show contempt towards fans they chose to alienate.
However, there is a point when the 6 dollars isn’t enough as seen with the other services they are competing with.
I don’t think I would forget that they try to ‘clarify’ that they’ll take down the entire library from YouTube when they in the video and the Variety article said they would. The gaslighting is unforgivable and they should have said something about that.
The initial deflection from their rich pals and wives shows they didn't understand at first so that's one of the reasons why. Sara Rubin was just so tone-deaf when her wedding venue was 55k and her previous post was a 100-dollar tote. Honestly, I think that caused the most damage. Not help that Shane deleted comments regarding the Tumblr post when most of them were perfectly innocent in pointing out the post in question.
They could have just done so many things like publicizing Patreon more instead of a paywall.
Honestly, I prefer to see their finances going and where are they spending them when they show they want a blank check for everything due to their extravagant film style that couldn’t be bothered to be creative in the restrictions they have as a young company. Tell me why a small percentage of your fandom has to shell out money is the one way for your solvent. Tell me the Patreon income vs ad vs view numbers that you're getting that you feel you still want to overspend money and overextend your staff. Even just the basic salary of your workers is enough, just something.
Why on earth is Watcher going under? If you don't try anything but the nuclear option? Because at this point, people are asking how much you are spending and are still willing to spend if you are going under but will not stop spending needlessly on production costs? You still won't cut down on production costs nor say why fans are the only option to get the money from.
They're not cutting back on anything as they said they want to expand bigger and better with the launch in the previous video. How on earth are they going under then if they are going to spend willy-nilly regardless? The streaming service was simply the best option to benefit your interests nothing more.
Yeah, this is the part I have the most issues with, and really a big reason I won't bother returning to them in any form, even as an occasional view on a video. They simply had not addressed the mismanagement of money and will definitely waste fans' money on whatever extravagant and unnecessarily overproduced shit they will plan. Again, it's not matching the excitement of expanding to international locals for videos to suddenly saying you're going under thus needing a streaming service when other YouTubers found ways to survive and be better within the restrictions of the industry.
Their fellows like Quinta Bruson succeeded outside of YouTube and inside of it like Safiya Nygaard. Why do they feel they cannot succeed and have to rely on fans only outside where there is no discoverability?
The company is still much too young. While the controversy wasn’t as big as the Try Guys because they aren’t big enough yet in the ecosystem, it’s still a bit on their reputation that they still need to recover from.
The initial video showed the cracks whereas the following video was a band-aid. We'll see if they'll keep the promises this time to better themselves after this debacle but time will tell.
They have not said anything about the bigger concerns like the budget thing now that people realize just how stupid it is that they have a large staff for a Let's Play show of all things. Why on earth do they need a gaffer and director for Let's Play?
They didn't think anything through even from the start of their new channel. They have yet to apologize to their peers and colleagues and they have yet to give them the numbers and how they manage things because now people are realizing they are poor business people who are willing to spend money frivolously and why they feel that fan money is the only way to sustain themselves for who knows how long.
This also might be the first time people had ever heard of them considering Moist's video on them toppled them in terms of popularity. They have to set up an episode fast that shows they can still do it within the confines of YouTube and garner new ones. The disaster wasn't ever everywhere but it's on YouTube and people on YouTube would know the trending topics.
I wish them the best moving forward but I won't watch them again, not even for their old videos I actually like Puppet History. Though considering I haven't been watching them for a while now including the later seasons of Puppet History, I think I dodged a bullet with the casual misogyny in an episode of said series and won't be returning either way so yay.
There was a minor mishap with communications over in Patreon regarding the free subscription and how long it would be but it seemed to solve with an official newsletter, telling Patrons that they are still working out the kinks regarding the subscription to and from Patreon and the website they're using as well as getting a survey out for a focus group for feedback, a great thing to know since y'know the whole fiasco started without any of the fans' knowledge and the team's belief that the fans will be happy to eat it up but not expecting this big of a backlash.
However, there is still an ego there if they like a comment for someone willing to cancel Disney for them which is what?? Disney has a far larger catalogue and at least I can watch my favorites. Watcher needs a bigger catalog and their starting catalog schedule does not leave anyone much to look forward to when there is one video per week.
Just holy shit, I continued to watch Try Guys after the Nedgate.
I never once thought that these guys would end up being the ones that would be the ones I would never watch again. It's simply that there are too many points that they haven't learned anything outside of focus groups now maybe. They still haven't learned to communicate first to their Patrons immediately after the video of the plans is for them and all they can do is help including sending the codes. The corporatism is still there and they won't back down that easily after plunging so much money needlessly.
I'm just a casual viewer but I never once thought I would never have these guys on the list of people I would never watch or would watch again in my life. Any videos I ever like from them would be tainted with the contempt towards fans they feel they can Pie Piper to the paywall. Until everything dies down, I will freely proceed to let my YouTube know they won't be recommended again.
There was a kerfuffle with extremely parasocial fans lashing out at ambivalent fans who still have the right to feel upset and disappointed with the betrayal. It's as if just because an apology is good enough, it's good moving forward. This is bad because now Watcher, all three of them and their closest, are protected by their most rabid fans even though there is evidence that Watcher still needs to learn and not put up a wall from viewers and themselves just because of their stupidity for ambition and refusal to cut down cost.
Edit: So, in the Patreon survey, two of the options turned out to dissolve Patreon and use WatcherTV as one of the few sources of revenue streams now. Aside from merchandise and live shows, I don't think they are thinking any of this through.
Not helped that over a thousand Patreons unsubscribed and the Patrons still on there are still waiting for their refund. Technically there are no paying Patrons on WatcherTV yet but Watcher is for sure trying to convert them when they are already losing so much revenue with the loss of the higher paying tiers.
I want to be hopeful for their future but Watcher have already demonstrated they refused to be YouTubers anymore by dissolving their Patreon entirely. They haven't addressed any of the main issues despite the nice apology that is utterly meaningless in the end if they don't back it up with their actions. And their actions with Patrons are behind closed doors that the non-paying fans are only willing to wait till the month's end.
Speaking of the month's end, the fact there are no videos or even shorts out shows that Watcher is done with YouTube. And if they ever decide to return, speaking generously here, they're going to have a hard time with sponsors given their vitriol towards them in the initial goodbye video.
Unlike Try Guys and their undeniable legal issue, Watcher does not, and not even uploading a podcast to discuss the situation as candidly as they could be possible while discussing their future business plan should've been enough. Not uploading anything until next month is not a good look when they're still not answering fans on Discord no less. Patrons on Discord want to hear from them and there is nothing. Just release a short or something because now it's clear they are not doing anything to let it out there anything can reassure their fans outside of a nice apology that doesn't do much.
The fact they changed up their schedule just a bit by having Survival Mode for May instead of Travel Season is just what??? Survival Mode is a standard YouTube gaming channel but this time with Buzzfeed employees and no research done with unnecessary needs for a director and gaffer for an audience of non-gamers. If that isn't a hint that they still haven't shaken off Buzzfeed's influence, there it is. Doing video games behind a paywall is not a good look when developers made it clear they are not cool with that. However considering just how clueless these guys are and that Survival Mode is first up, it's pretty clear they still don't understand their issues.
Edit: They released a new podcast and are just so vague about the whole incident, just not saying much outside of yeah we're listening and such and such.
Steven, Ryan, Shane, people saw you guys as business-poor people who can't manage finances to save your life in pursuit of bigger productions that you deem your fans' problems to solve and any revenue streams outside of merch, live shows, and the streamer is getting destroyed. Make it make sense that you need money to destroy most of your revenue streams.
What's worse was Critical Role's Beacon and everything is already on there and your WatcherTV got nothing on there except a fucking Let's Play. Fans are going to be forced to wait two months just to give you a chance.
Hilariously, when I wrote this, they un-paywalled the Minecraft episode so...either they got Microsoft on their ass or they learned about the rules, they just did not paywalled a Let's Play of Minecraft. They're not making money off of this as I'm really ugly laughing once I knew about this. Either way, the first video up that won't be on YouTube until next month is here on their official streamer aka the only video that is not trailers that too are still paywalled.
It's just a mess in their office right now as well as overseas where they are still filming UK Ghost Files.
Edit: I have no plans to make a Try Guys streaming service post on its own. It's still sort of an extension of the discussion being made.
It's ironic that the ex-Buzzfeeders focus so much on algorithms that they are failing to see their peers that succeeded or they just see those that retired.
It does feel like they had watched Watcher and countered their mistakes. It seems Miles shutting up from the whiteboard falling on him for not discussing the awkwardness he has his own show on there and the universe calling him an idiot.
Both still fall into the same trap of their international audience being forced to pay out more than they can in the middle of a recession.
Eugene already left the group. He's doing one last season, not as a Try Guy, but as a guest since he wasn't taken with the remaining duo in stills at all.
I still think that a recession and a younger fanbase will make them fail. To the Try Guys' credit, it does seem the streaming service is more of an add-on, they actually have exclusives on there, and an app up and ready.
It's simply the fact that people called it since Try Guys have an announcement to make. Again, the Try Guys plunged too much on them but at least these guys seem ready as Critical Role's Beacon.
For these YouTubers, it's more of an add-on but still, in an age of streaming services that are bundling instead to make up the hemorrhaging money, it's still a choice to make when Nebula is right there.
Perhaps Watcher did race forward with theirs unfinished and poor marketing. I don't think Try Guys and Watcher were planning a streaming service together when Watcher demonstrated an arrogance that will destroy their company.
All I knew about Try Guys was that they barely kept the lights on. Maybe they were following DropOut's example after all but again, DropOut is a unique case.
They aren't abandoning YouTube but hopefully Try Guys and Watcher would do the least for international fans to get their membership through there even if they will lose money.
It just feels that these two while aren't in the financial situation that Watcher is in, they aren't trying to break the laws.
It feels too discombobulating for this decision to come.
