San Francisco (AFP)
Relations between PewDiePie and YouTube are once again in high gear: the creator of content on video games, controversial star of the networks, will now broadcast its videos live exclusively on the Google platform, according to a press release from the company published Monday.
Felix Kjellberg, whose real name, "had 104 million subscribers and generated over 25 billion views at this point. This is much more than any other YouTube channel driven by a single individual," said the company, which earns its income from advertising.
The Swedish thirties, who created his channel ten years ago, first became known by filming himself testing video games, then with humorous videos.
Its contents made it ultra popular, but its insulting or racist remarks also caused scandals.
But for YouTube, engaged in a war of attention with streaming services, Felix Kjellberg is a great asset.
The Google subsidiary competes with both Netflix and Twitch (Amazon). This platform for broadcasting video games and live e-sports claims 1.5 million viewers on average, at any time, and 10 billion hours of content watched in 2019.
YouTube claims to be the world's largest "gaming" platform with "more than 200 million players, active daily watching more than 50 billion hours of games per year".
Direct or "live" has taken on a phenomenal importance on certain networks, and "Grand confinement" has exploded this use.
"In 2020 and beyond I'm going to focus a lot on live streaming," PewDiePie said in the statement. "So this partnership with YouTube, and being at the forefront of new features, is very exciting for the future."
In February 2017, YouTube and a Disney studio had stripped him of contracts after several videos containing anti-Semitic insults or Nazi references.
One, for example, since withdrawn, showed a man disguised as Jesus and said, "Hitler did absolutely nothing wrong." A few months later, he reoffended by launching a racist insult against another player.
PewDiePie made amends several times, blaming his behavior on the "heat of the moment" or explaining that he only understood after the fact why his jokes were "hurtful".
© 2020 AFP