Felix Kjellberg, aka PewDiePie, has shared in the Kjellberg Mail newsletter that after being a gamer on YouTube for 13 years, he has officially taken a break from videogames for the time being. However, for those who have been following her channel for a while, this will come as no surprise.
Eight years ago, a video titled “Why I don’t play video games anymore” was uploaded to the PewDiePie channel, citing reasons for the lack of Let’s Play videos. Since then, his channel has embraced more lifestyle blogging and the occasional hobby vlog. Of course, this also includes some games, including GeoGasser featured in the most recent video. But other than that, it’s not content you would have expected to see ten years ago.
There’s a good reason for this, however, which PewDiePie explained in the November Kjellberg Mail newsletter. He shared, “Since becoming a father, everything has a different evaluation. Every hour now has value in a way it didn’t before. One of the biggest things I decided to give up was video games. But the thing is: If I really wanted to, there would be plenty of time for me to play video games. I just decided that, if time is limited, I’d rather do something else.”
The post details how he still plays video games for 30 minutes or more from time to time, but claims that “the days of logging dozens of hours into a single game are over.” Now this is not just because of being a father. Felix continues to say how this “ties directly into my YouTube channel. Since I’ve been so busy with YouTube and gaming, I haven’t really done much to build myself and grow. So right now, I’m in a different mindset where I want to learn.”
But just because the days of endless Let’s Plays are over doesn’t mean the PewDiePie channel has shut down too. In fact, dedicating more time to different skills has led PewDiePie to post a wider variety of content that can be viewed on his channel overview. For example, a video about building his first PC received over 4.8 million views, while a follow-up video titled “Accidentally Build a Nuclear Supercomputer” received 2.7 million.
These videos don’t always earn 100% positive feedback, but that doesn’t seem to stop this new era of content from taking precedence over any gaming videos. PewDiePie ended his section of the newsletter thus: “It’s so funny to me when I release a video where I share everything I’ve worked on. Some people are amazed at how I can learn in such a short time. Some people say it’s like ‘Well, if I had infinite time like that I would learn too.’ But the reality is that I don’t have infinite time. I decided to spend it on what I think is more valuable, and seeing how people react to it validates that idea.”
