Gaming YouTubers have always been popular online, from Pewdiepie to Jacksepticeye. Recently, there has been an explosion of creators from the Irish side of the gaming community. Their name is CallMeKevin, and today. I’m going to explore what makes him one of the most successful Irish gaming Youtubers.
Unpredictable Chaos
When you watch a gaming video on Youtube, you expect it to follow the instructions. You expect the gamer to be a completionist, and you expect them to complete the level straight away. However, with Kevin, you don’t get predictable gameplay. In a word, you get chaos. Complete and utter chaos.
He doesn’t read the instructions, so he has no idea how it works. So, you get weird results as he tries to work out how to move and run. On top of that, when playing a game, for example, the sims, he will go for the weirdest (and funniest result)—making a basement to trap the sims and turn them into a cult. Or using a mod to burn an entire household.
CallMeKevin likes to push the weirdness of the game to its limits. Some the audience are aware of, or some effects are new. It's fun seeing how he tries to break a game and the results, especially as some of us could only hope to achieve that level of weirdness or hadn’t even thought about it.
The audience also appreciates how Kevin just rolls with whatever happens throughout the unpredictability and doesn’t let it hinder the gameplay experience. Kevin just shows the game in this weird and random way.
Another thing to mention is that the unpredictability isn’t met by someone who always shouts at the screen or does random things to be an annoying type of funny. It's never irritating, and it doesn’t put you off. It makes it a comfortable viewing experience and enables you to but in more to the unpredictability.
Funny personality + meme-based content
When CallMeKevin properly took off on youtube, the video titles would always be something like ‘GTA Vice City, but I ruin it with the chaos mod.’ yes, I am aware this goes back to seeing how it ruins the gameplay. However, there is a secondary element. At the time, videos such as ‘Hermionie Granger being annoyed for five minutes.’ Or ‘Merlin, but it's only when Arthur is on screen’ types of videos were taking off.
Following the popular titles at the time helped with the dreaded algorithm. It could identify the titles as a similar type of content. The way the title was written enabled potential viewers to know that the content they were about to watch would/could be the next big meme format.
I’m not saying using that meme-based titling on videos for the next two years was an intentional move to finesse the algorithm. But it did help CallMeKevin gain a considerable amount of subscribers. Plus, it enabled even bigger and better inside jokes to occur, leading to more insane hijinks on Kevin’s part.
Jim Pickens
One of the most popular meme’s or inside jokes that propelled Kevin to top gaming Youtuber status besides ‘Bore Ragnarok’ was Jim Pickens The Dear Leader.
For those of you reading this who are now absolutely confused. When Kevin first started to play the Sims, he created a character named Jim Pickens. Eventually, the character built a basement, locked other sims in there, and used them as slaves, killed them off, or put them in a ‘cult’. Hence why he is known as ‘The Dear Leader.’ Because the character runs a cult.
Although it was an accidental creation, the creation of Jim Pickens gave us weirder than usual situations. Using Jim Pickens throughout the gameplay also gave it a coherent storyline that viewers would always return to see what Jim would do in the next part. Jim Pickens also gave us other characters we grew to care for. Such as the Grim reaper, and we would also like to see their development. The audience could latch onto Jim Pickens and co, like characters in a TV show that you care for and love.
On top of that, he regularly streams and has raised money for several charities. So he seems like a genuinely great guy.
Changing content
Although the content on CallMeKevin’s channel is and always will be gaming, he throws in something new now and then. Sometimes, it's a cover of a song like Rings of fire and other times; It will be a sketch.
While Kevin’s content has this unpredictable nature, he would find his content stale without the other stuff sprinkled in the audience. The same and so diversifying the content stops that from happening. Plus, it prevents Kevin from getting bored.
Ultimately CallMeKevin has become a household name thanks to genuinely funny content with a personality that doesn’t annoy you with screaming. And by healthily communicating with fans and by being (hopefully) a decent human being. And by creating fun storylines with his characters and gameplay.
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