PewDiePie explains why he thought about quitting YouTube two years ago and discusses his future in content creation

Felix "PewDiePie" addressed his future on YouTube in a video posted on September 14. Titled Why I didnt quit, it is a seven-minute long discussion as to what led him to think about quitting content creation and what held him back.

PewDiepie has been the reigning king of YouTube for quite some time now. His popularity and fame have transcended beyond his content creation after he became the first creator to cross the fabled 100-million-subsribers mark on the Google-owned platform three years ago.

But the content he has been doing recently is different from his daily videos in the past. Over the last two years, he has been highly inconsistent with uploads and has changed his style drastically, preferring vlogs and small reaction videos to full-blown gaming or meme review content.

Almost two years ago, the streamer even contemplated leaving the industry for good.

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PewDiePie reveals what made him want to quit two years ago

PewDiePie launched his YouTube account in 2010 and worked his way up the content food chain by publishing let's play videos, funny commentary videos, and video games. Later, he expanded into producing extremely popular meme reviews and reaction content.

Along the way, he had a brush with numerous controversies, making life pretty miserable for him, as he explained in the video:

"Two years ago when I decided that I was gonna quit. It was because I had gone through too much drama at the time. You know, it hasn't always been perfect. but I do feel I have gone through a lot of scrutiny as well. And the negative was just outweighing the good at that point."

The negative press and continuous scrutiny seemed to have taken a toll on the Swedish YouTuber, but he kept on going. As he reminisced about the good old days, PewDiePie thanked his fans and audience who allowed him to make a career out of doing the things he likes:

"But it didn't feel right to quite when other people, especially when so many people were still being so supportive. And yeah, I look back on my 10 years on YouTube and it's been a wild f*cking ride. And I would do it all again in a heartbeat."

He then explained how the pursuit of an increased subscriber count and views sucked the fun out of making content, making all of his accomplishments hollow:

"I realized at that time that, you know, to keep trying to push the channel more and more and more all the time wasn't doing anything for me personally. I wasn't getting anything out of the money, the recognition or the fame. At least that part had peaked, you know?"

He even went as far as to say that he was just doing it because that's what people expected of him:

"Felt like I was just growing the channel just because you are expected to do so."

All of this led up to what his future plans for the channel look like. PewDiePie revealed that the reason his uploads have been haphazard in the last few years is mostly because he doesn't force himself to do content anymore:

"So, two years ago, I said I was going to retire and that confused a lot of people because I still uploaded videos. But the thing is, what I meant was I just wanted to do YouTube like I did it when I started, which is for fun."

He went on to say that this new strategy has worked very well for him as he has taken everything at his own pace and started to enjoy YouTube like he did before the grinding mindset set in. Now that he is having fun, PewDiePie hinted that he will keep uploading videos he thinks are worth sharing with his fans.

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Fans react to PewDiePie's revelations

While discussing the future of the channel, he acknowledged how his channel has changed and matured over the years and noted that new content will not be for everyone.

He further requested that people not ask for Minecraft or meme review videos as they did not interest him anymore. Fans overwhelmingly supported his decision, with many content creators and streaming personalities also chiming in the comments section.

Comments lauding the creator (Image via YouTube/PewDiePie)

Fans thanking him for all good times (Image via YouTube/PewDiePie)

With 111 million subscribers, Felix has come a long way from his Let's Play series in early 2010s. Having assured that he will be back on the platform with future videos, he finished the video with the iconic Bro Fist, a cherished symbol for his millions of fans.