This is just a thank you, a MatPat thank you.
Mar 08, 2024 – [[read-time]] minute read
To say Matt and Steph helped both revolutionize and define a generation of creators and content would not be a YouTube theory, it’s a YouTube fact.”
MatPat — of The Game Theorist, The Food Theorist, The Film Theorist, The Style Theorist, and GTLive fame — recently announced that he and his partner, Steph, are stepping out from in front of the cameras in order to devote more time to family, behind-the-scenes production, and developing new channels — a lo-fi thriller being the only tease so far. And the outpouring from the community has been positively seismic. They’re leaving a FNAF-sized hole in our weekly viewing hearts.
To say Matt and Steph helped both revolutionize and define a generation of creators and content would not be a YouTube theory, it’s a YouTube fact.
Whether you’ve only ever dipped your tiniest toe into the Theorist-Verse, or you’re the O-est of OG, you’ve undeniably felt the ripples of Matt and Steph’s creativity and generosity over the years and across the meta.
They understood that a YouTube channel was really more like a show. They can talk deeply about diverse topics like gaming, food, film, and style, but jumbling them all together would never lead to the deep connections, dedicated audiences, and explosive growth they’ve seen by giving them each their own space. Carefully cross-pollinated and promoted, but clear and consistent space.
They saw the value of storytelling. That no dull, dreary recitation of raw data could equal the primal power of a well-crafted viewer experience. As Steph puts it — hook, hypothesis, evidence x3, twist, conclusion. But also, that great storytelling structures could become formulae without becoming formulaic. That they could apply across topics and time, allowing them to scale channel after channel, week after week, by codifying the impossible balance of familiarity and freshness that audiences so crave.
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Something only the most iconic of shows and show-runners achieve.
Perhaps even more importantly, MatPat and Steph have never hesitated to share their creative and strategic insights with the creator community, not just by example, but intentionally at conventions and summits, in interviews and conversations, online and IRL.
It’s there, in the sharing, in the caring, in the community that creators value them the most deeply. That’s become their lore.
In many ways, YouTube is unlike any other creative medium in history. There are no traditional gatekeepers. The only thing between any of us and the world is the upload button. But MatPat and Steph, among others, are now showing us that, like in other mediums, creators who have built a successful channel (or 5) can hand over that legacy, take a break, muse on new ideas, and take that leap into what’s next.
Thank you MatPat and Steph for continuing to show creators the path forward, ever forward. We’re beyond grateful to you, and that’s another YouTube fact.