Entertainment

PewDiePie reveals that he’s already “retired” from YouTube

Virginia Glaze
PewDiePie speaks to the camera while sitting at his streaming station.YouTube: PewDiePie
PewDiePie speaks to the camera while sitting at his streaming station.

Felix ‘PewDiePie’ Kjellberg is YouTube’s most subscribed independent creator — but it looks like his career as a full-time influencer has already hit a major turning point.

While PewDiePie has long reigned as one of YouTube’s biggest personalities, he rose to the top of the platform in 2018, after battling with Indian music label T-Series to become the site’s number one self-driven channel.

Boasting well over 107 million subscribers, Kjellberg’s career is certainly something to behold; but his time grinding videos and live streams has already come to an end, according to his answer during a November 12 Q&A session.

One fan asked the YouTuber if he’d ever retire: a concept he claims he actually put into motion a few months ago.

PewDiePie sits at his streaming station and speaks to the camera.YouTube: PewDiePie
PewDiePie is YouTube’s most-subscribed, independent content creator, boasting over 107 million subscribers at the time of writing.

“Bruh, I never have to work again,” he joked. “I don’t have to be here. Do you understand? I’ve already retired, I just decided a couple of months ago. I’m doing YouTube at a more low pace. I’m sorry.”

“That means I am not uploading as frequently as I am,” he continued. “I just decided: F**k it. I’m retired. Have you noticed any difference?”

Despite effectively “retiring” from the YouTube grind, he’s very much still active on the platform, and opened up about what keeps him on the website in a subsequent answer to another fan query.

PewDiePie shows off his muscles for the camera.Instagram: PewDiePie
PewDiePie has become a philosophy and literature enthusiast in the past few years of his career, and has even gained a whole-body transformation after creating a home gym in his garage.

While at first he joked that “money” was his main motivator, he quickly clarified by stating that he truly enjoys interacting with his viewers and creating content.

“I really enjoy interacting with my fans,” he answered. “I know that sounds cliche, and yes, it probably is, but it’s true. I still read comments, I love making videos, I love filming videos. Let’s be real here — Sive does all the hard work. I just get to do all the fun stuff.”

(Topic begins at 5:30)

While PewDiePie has taken a few lengthy breaks in the past — and plans to take another one in January 2021 — it seems that the Swede has no plans to indefinitely leave YouTube at the present moment.

Instead, he has “retired” from the ever-present grind that often results in “creator burnout” — and it looks like his fans are loving it.

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