With over 94 million subscribers and counting, Felix Kjellberg remains one of the top content creators in the video-sharing website YouTube. His YouTube channel named “PewDiePie” consists of the Swede’s travel vlogs, gameplay commentaries, and comedy shows that are coming into the page daily. His videos afford Kjellberg with sponsors, giving him a net worth of around $30 to 50 million.
As YouTube’s best video provider, PewDiePie witnessed many imitators and competitors rise and fall during its dominance on the video platform. Its most competitive rival, the India-based channel named “T-Series,” is slowly reaching the same subscribers count. Amid the battle for the top YouTube channels based on subscribers, Kjellberg makes a shocking announcement regarding his plans to remove the PewDiePie channel from YouTube.
Kjellberg revealed that he is moving the PewDiePie channel to DLive, a live stream platform powered by the Lino blockchain. In his statement, Kjellberg explains that he feels excited to post live streams regularly. He also believes that DLive treats him like a partner, a shade to YouTube’s treatment of the content creator. PewDiePie announced his reasons for the move in one of his videos on the YouTube channel, garnering over four million views and more than 36,000 comments by his massive fanbase.
YouTube and Twitch are video-sharing websites that provide a platform for many video bloggers and gamers. The most popular channels, however, often find their earnings taking a massive hit as the video-sharing sites earn a considerable cut. Twitch is known for taking over half of the subscription revenue earned by channels.
The Benefits of DLive
Wilson Wei, the founder of Lino blockchain, also feels excited to work with streaming star PewDiePie. Wei reveals that DLive will not take cuts from content creators’ earnings. Wei said DLive offers a platform for streamers to support each other instead of creating a competitive environment for subscribers and viewers. The Lino blockchain founder believes that PewDiePie is an advocate for entertainers that dedicate their time, effort, and hard work to bring joy to their fans and that the YouTube star is putting his faith on DLive’s vision.
PewDiePie already created his DLive account but has yet to post a video. However, his followers already reached over 76,000. PewDiePie plans to release his first live stream video on April 14, where he pledges to give around $10,000 to $50,000 in Lino digital tokens to other vloggers, gamers, and entertainers. His plan revolves around sharing his wealth and helping the video-sharing site gain traction.
PewDiePie’s Dilemma with YouTube
Fans of PewDiePie remain loyal during the competitive subscribers battle against T-Series on YouTube. Aware of the vlogger’s influence over subscribers, the video-sharing website refuses to cut its ties with PewDiePie amid a series of controversial videos involving anti-Semitism and Nazi symbolism.
However, YouTube made decisions that started to affect PewDiePie’s net worth like canceling “Scare PewDiePie.” The removal of the original series deeply affected Kjellberg’s contract with Disney’s Maker Studios. PewDiePie’s name also found itself in a lot of controversial situations after terrorist Brenton Tarrant urged viewers to subscribe to the channel before murdering 50 people in two New Zealand mosques.
YouTube will find it hard to let go of PewDiePie because of the channel’s ability to rake in money for the website. However, Kjellberg’s move to DLive is a massive hit to the Google-owned website as his loyal followers will most likely move to the decentralized app with him. The move signifies an enormous accomplishment for Lino blockchain as PewDiePie’s influence and the content will help more people become increasingly aware of the benefits and culture of blockchain technology.
