In a video titled ‘It’s been real, but I’m out!’, Swedish YouTube legend ‘PewDiePie’ (Felix Kjellberg) on Wednesday, 15 January, announced that he is finally taking a break after nearly a decade of making videos.
Kjellberg – who is the most subscribed individual on YouTube and has the second most subscribed channel, with over 102 million subscribers – thanked his fans for watching his videos and sticking by him.
“I just wanted to take this moment to give a toast to my nine-year-olds (his fans). Thank you for watching across the years.”Felix Kjellberg
The video, is part of his ‘LWIAY’ (Last Week I Asked You) series in which he reviews memes, fan-art and other content posted on his personal subreddit.
Felix indicated that he would eventually come back “with 10,000 percent”, but did not say exactly when that would be.
‘Love Making Videos, Just Feel Like I Need to Do This’
Felix had talked about taking a hiatus back in December 2019, after a large section of his fans urged him, in light of the fact that he had put out a video nearly every day for the past several years.
“Truth is, I don’t want to go on break. Truth is, I love making videos. I just feel like I need to do this.”Felix Kjellberg
“I'm tired. I'm feeling very tired. I don't know if you can tell... Early next year I'll be away for a little while. I'll explain that later. I wanted to say it in advance because I made up my mind,” he had said in a video post last year.
Felix started out as a relatively unknown YouTuber in 2010 and rose to popularity with video game play-throughs and went on to experiment with different styles including vlogs, reviews and commentaries.
His decade-long career also saw controversies involving allegations of racism and tiffs with conventional media outlets.
“I know I'm making this a bigger thing than it is, but it is weird for me to... It is a big thing, even though it isn't a big thing,” he said towards the end of his video.
“I wanna say thank you for watching my videos. It makes me happy that you watch it, because I like making it. So, cheers to you.”
‘Come Back One Day’: Fans React to His Announcement
Several of PewDiePie’s fans took to social media to react to his video.
“Not gonna lie, it's really going to feel different without his daily uploads. 100% gonna miss this crazy dude,” wrote one Twitter user.
“PewDiePie is officially taking a break from YouTube and I can't help but be happy for him. I've been watching him since 2014 and dare I say he paved the way to my teenage dumbassery. ” wrote another.
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