PewDiePie Didn't Delete His Channel After Reaching 50 Million Subscribers

What a surprise.

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PewDiePie has more subscribers than any other channel on YouTube, but that may end this evening. An increasingly jaded PewDiePie previously pledged to delete his channel once he hit 50 million subscribers and now that threshold has been reached. After stating he was going to delete the PewDiePie channel today though, he didn't. Turns out the whole thing was a joke.

I can understand why PewDiePie would want to remove his channel, even though he's still very much on top of the YouTube game. When Felix Kjellberg started the PewDiePie channel in 2010, video blogging about video gaming was still an exciting and new thing. However, his over-the-top performances as the PewDiePie character led him to be typecast, and as he's matured his audience hasn't.

Recent upload from Kjellberg have dealt with more serious issues, like problems with YouTube's algorithms that have lead to more and more clickbait being placed in users suggested videos, and viewers getting spontaneously unsubscribed from channels. His followers, however, aren't particularly interested in hearing about that kind of thing. Those that followed PewDiePie for his zany video gaming antics simply miss the old PewDiePie.

Kjellberg desires a change in tone of his content, a change that will be accepted by his subscribers. When you've got 50 million people expecting you to do one thing and you want to do something else, why not just get rid of them? Kjellberg has money to burn, and at this point, I don't blame him for not wanting to be the face of YouTube and its gaming scene anymore.

However, apparently Kjellberg's mention of deleting his YouTube channel was a joke taken out of proportion and reported on in a much more serious context than he had intended. A video posted to the PewDiePie channel shows Kjellberg deleting his second channel. That's it. It was all a joke. However, the tone of the PewDiePie channel has definitely taken a more mature and darker tone, and maybe that's okay. For now we'll just have to watch and see what the ultimate fate of the most popular YouTube channel will be.

Contributing Editor
From The Chatty
  • reply
    December 9, 2016 8:34 AM

    Jason Faulkner posted a new article, Pewdiepie Reaches 50 Million Subscribers and Doesn't Delete Channel

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      December 9, 2016 8:40 AM

      [deleted]

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      December 9, 2016 8:47 AM

      Some friends of mine just shot a TV show starring pewdiepie, so I'm sure he wants to branch out.

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        December 9, 2016 9:24 AM

        Doesn't that dude suck arse, though?

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          December 9, 2016 9:29 AM

          No? He seems like a really nice and grounded dude.

          His current industry of YouTubn' is what sucks arse.

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            December 9, 2016 9:41 AM

            Yeah, this. He's obviously playing a character, and that character made him popular and pulled in big bucks, and maybe he wants to do something else because I'm sure he gets tired of acting like a doofus for as much money as it's made him.

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            December 9, 2016 10:01 PM

            Can't say that I know Felix well in or out of character but in my brief experience working with him, he seemed pretty normal, didn't sound much like his character, was kind, and very much recognized the kind of trouble he is a magnet for.

            That last bit especially made him easy to work with.

        • Ziz legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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          December 9, 2016 9:55 AM

          If it gets him views... sure.

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          December 9, 2016 11:15 AM

          He's irritating and supremely punchable but by most reports actually a fairly charitable person.

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          December 9, 2016 12:01 PM

          Your probably thinking of Jim Stirlinger.

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      December 9, 2016 8:49 AM

      i can't imagine how draining it must be for him to maintain that persona. he puts out a ton of content and it's been like 6+ years and i'm sure he wants to move on and do different content.

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      December 9, 2016 8:54 AM

      [deleted]

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      December 9, 2016 8:58 AM

      [deleted]

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        December 9, 2016 9:03 AM

        [deleted]

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          December 9, 2016 9:05 AM

          [deleted]

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            December 9, 2016 9:07 AM

            7.3

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            December 9, 2016 9:26 AM

            [deleted]

            • Ziz legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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              December 9, 2016 9:57 AM

              If Trump can do it ANYONE can be.

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                December 9, 2016 10:48 AM

                That's probably the most redeeming factor in all of this. He's proof our parents weren't lying when they said that we could be President when we were 8.

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                  December 9, 2016 10:50 AM

                  Nah. He is proof that no matter how unqualified and vulgar, a rich white man from rich white parents can still be elected for president over many other qualified people.

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                    December 9, 2016 11:58 AM

                    ^ truth has never been spoken online ever.

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            December 9, 2016 9:30 AM

            It's weird because he went full retard, and he still got the viewers. I thought you never went full retard.

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              December 9, 2016 9:38 AM

              Maybe he didn't go full then

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              December 9, 2016 9:39 AM

              That's just what they want you to think

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              December 9, 2016 10:08 AM

              different media, different rules. On the Internet you always go full retard.

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              December 9, 2016 10:09 AM

              That's the beauty of a YouTube career, the field is constantly pushing the limit of what's "full retard" so you can really never hit it.

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              December 9, 2016 10:13 AM

              He's definitely not full retard

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                December 9, 2016 10:48 AM

                He was at one point, but as Moonbase said, the bar has been raised.

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                  December 9, 2016 11:07 AM

                  [deleted]

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                    December 9, 2016 11:59 AM

                    Have you SEEN any of his videos?!?

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                      December 9, 2016 12:01 PM

                      ^^^^^^^ especially involving his girlfriend, it gets even worse.

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                      December 9, 2016 12:03 PM

                      [deleted]

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                        December 9, 2016 12:09 PM

                        Sure but that doesn't change the fact it's kind of ridiculous, stupid and retarded. I mean I respect keeping up the act and the big cash moneys but in the end of the day, he has to be a dipshit for it.

                        Although, I gotta admit he's actually been doing a couple of interesting trolley things of late I thought showed there's more to him than being a dipshit. I love when cashed up people give the finger to people.

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            December 9, 2016 9:32 AM

            Are you?

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            December 9, 2016 10:23 AM

            Do it on twitter and you'll get elected president.

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            December 9, 2016 11:58 AM

            Well go ahead and do it. It's easy right? All he's doing is being a retard on camera right? Get that money jingletard.

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              December 9, 2016 12:00 PM

              winning the lottery is also very easy: you just buy the ticket. easy is the wrong thing to talk about here

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              December 9, 2016 12:53 PM

              [deleted]

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                December 9, 2016 1:38 PM

                Yeah, so basically, you play a video game, point a webcam at yourself, and act retarded. If you can do all of these things at once, you are golden. Just make sure to cut out all the parts where you are acting normal. You will need to go full retard for this one. Best of luck!

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            December 9, 2016 12:04 PM

            Yeah, thinking the same thing.

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        December 9, 2016 9:04 AM

        he doesn't need the money at this point and is probably tired of the character. people mature and want to grow and try new things.

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          December 9, 2016 9:07 AM

          [deleted]

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          December 9, 2016 11:16 AM

          I think the main issue he's having is that he's maturing but his viewership isn't. I imagine it's frustrating when you try to talk about something serious that's affecting a lot of YouTubers and your commenters just want you to talk in a weird voice and play sp00ky games.

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      December 9, 2016 9:07 AM

      We all saw that move coming

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      December 9, 2016 10:01 AM

      [deleted]

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      December 9, 2016 10:05 AM

      I'm shocked

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      December 9, 2016 10:12 AM

      I'm sure he appreciates all the free advertising this stunt has pulled in too.

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      December 9, 2016 10:27 AM

      I've heard other Youtubers make these same comments. Any deviation from your normal content and a vocal portion of your followers complain to no end. It's not so much until TV shows really. Stray too much from the core of the show and the fans revolt. There is no room to branch out. Sad really.

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      December 9, 2016 10:31 AM

      Which one has cancer?

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      December 9, 2016 10:33 AM

      why would anyone think he would do this?

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      December 9, 2016 11:57 AM

      NO more screaming at the tops of his lungs at every small thing that happens in game? Thank GOD!

      He's probably just tired of his fan base which is consist largely of girls ages 10-14.

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        December 9, 2016 12:00 PM

        You people who hate him have no idea, you've got no idea. When mayooms came to Australia, I had to endure her morning routine of watching youtubers, I was exposed to Pewdiepies girlfriend who is /literally/ 3x more annoying than pewdiepie. I wasn't even sure such a thing is possible,........ his girlfriend .. omg......

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          December 9, 2016 12:03 PM

          Her voice is ear blood :(

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            December 9, 2016 12:04 PM

            WHY did you watch her, mayooms?? WHY???

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              December 9, 2016 12:06 PM

              she actually puts up good content. i enjoy watching her DIYs and vlogs because she seems like a sweet person.

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                December 9, 2016 12:07 PM

                0h, okay. I'm not sure if abrasion would check out her stuff, though.

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                  December 9, 2016 12:12 PM

                  I only watch Digital Foundry (to put me to sleep), Red Letter Media, Maru and Cyriak.

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          December 9, 2016 12:03 PM

          the horror.....the horror....

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        December 9, 2016 2:05 PM

        Maybe if those 10-14 year old girls gave a shit about top ten lists you'd be on to something.

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      December 9, 2016 12:08 PM

      as the lone pewdiepie supporter on Shacknews, i am pretty bummed but i also admire him for his trolling. he's put up with a lot of shit and until recently, has been a one-man-show YouTuber.

      i'll admit his content has been going over my head recently. i miss it when he played games, but still felix seems like a pretty cool guy who just wants to make great videos for his fans.

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        December 9, 2016 12:21 PM

        Sorry, Mayooms, But there are a lot of talented, creative people out there that make great, well written, produced content.

        and the ther'se PewDIePIe

        Who's set a bar so low, upcoming talented Content makers feel they have to lower their standards to get hits and subs from children on YouTube.

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          December 9, 2016 12:30 PM

          It makes total sense that people who question PewDiePie's talent and creativity are completely mystified by his millions of subscribers.

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            December 9, 2016 12:44 PM

            I'm not mystified . His targets is kids, ages 7-14, and uses lowest common denominator humor.

            And goggle putting your videos everywhere in the world, and not just 1 or 2 countries certainly helps his cause as well.

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              December 9, 2016 1:36 PM

              The content is so bad and lowest common denomination that anyone could do it!

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              December 9, 2016 2:07 PM

              I think its more than a little funny to see how active you are in this thread.

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          December 9, 2016 1:05 PM

          lol, that's silly. You think Pewdiepie determines what children like? The bar was already low, Pewdiepie just limbos under it. You give him way too much credit, acting like he is the reason kids like stupid things. Did you stop to consider that you may be getting old?

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        December 9, 2016 12:51 PM

        [deleted]

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          December 9, 2016 9:27 PM

          I agree, the hate he gets is just wrong and unwarranted..

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      December 9, 2016 8:52 PM

      I'm so glad I dont know who this is.

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      December 9, 2016 8:59 PM

      So much hateraide being drank in this thread.

      Dont hate the player, hate the game.


      I feel the same way when people bitch about how much money pro athletes make, well guess what the millions and millions of people throwing money at all their favorite players jerseys, paying tax dollars to build stadiums for billionaire owners etc is exactly why it happens. There is a demand for it, so whether you like it or not, its smart business.

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        December 9, 2016 9:13 PM

        This. You don't have to like the guy, but don't pretend like you don't understand why he is popular.

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          December 9, 2016 9:28 PM

          BUT HE GOT LUCKY ZOMG
          That was sarcasm, in case it was laid too thin.

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      December 10, 2016 1:39 AM

      Watched my first video of his for ffxv, good for him making that money

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