On Jan. 9, a generation of teens and young adults gathered around the dim glow of their electronics, pressed play on a YouTube video and watched an internet legend goodbye.
The video in question, titled “Goodbye Internet”, was uploaded to the YouTube channel Game Theory. It features creator and host Matthew Patrick (commonly known as MatPat to fans) explaining his plans to leave the channel.
MatPat reveals his decision to leave has been long discussed with his wife, Stephanie Patrick.
“Steph and I have known this video would be coming for the last three years,” Patrick said. “We weren’t sure it was necessarily going to be today, we didn’t know exactly when it would fall, but we knew it was going to happen eventually.”
Patrick cites his departure from the channel to his desire to spend time with his family and relieve the pressure he feels when playing video games.
“I miss the days where I could just sit down on the couch with Steph and play video games and it’s not for content, or I’m playing a game and I’m not thinking about what theories are going to come out of that.” Patrick said.
MatPat posted his first theory video on April 18, 2011 and from then on, the channel has made its mark for creating inventive, occasionally outlandish theories on games from all genres. Subsequent channels including Film Theory, Food Theory and Style Theory launched throughout the next decade, expanding the Theory community to amass more than 38.8 million subscribers.
While MatPat is leaving the theory community, all channels will continue to upload content with new hosts. However, the departure of yet another YouTuber reflects the passage of time for young adults and teens, as the content creators they grew up watching continue to depart from the internet.
I, like many others from my generation, experienced the shift in entertainment from innovative, thoughtful content to the short, clickbait-driven videos first hand.
While there has been no shortage in the emergence of new creators with thoughtful videos, I do miss opening YouTube and being greeted by the latest 20 minute theory video rather than being bombarded by an endless barrage of 20 second YouTube shorts.
The last video featuring MatPat as the host will release March 9, although the actual content of the video is yet to be revealed. For now, fans are left to wait for the signature phrase, “but that’s just a theory, a game theory,” to mark the end of both MatPat’s final video and his career.
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