Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
We asked Dan to describe the YouTube channel-runner's job, and this is how he put it: “My
job consists of using my imagination for cool new video ideas, recording those ideas with-
in Minecraft (and sometimes other games too!), taking those recordings and editing them
together to create the final piece and then creating the artwork to go with the video when it
goes live on YouTube.” Though to the casual viewer it may look similar to regular gaming,
Dan says that there's a lot more to it than that, adding “I do get to play and record video
games every day, but there's also a lot of behind-the-scenes, too.”
Anyone can start a YouTube channel with just a few clicks, but it takes gaming know-how,
special recording equipment (such as high fidelity microphones and powerful video capture
software), passion, dedication and not just a little charisma to gain a following like that of
Dan and his fellow YouTube stars. As he says, it doesn't happen overnight, but took months
of work and practice before he really hit a chord with viewers and his channel took off. “I
would say my first big break was over the summer of 2013. I had been making Minecraft
videos everyday for a few months, but when the summer hit and I started showcasing Mods
for the game and bringing my own stories into those videos, people seemed to really con-
nect with them and it has got me to where I am today.”
The 22 year-old says that his channel's growth from a small following to his millions of
subscribers happened “Very quick!” adding “I literally just finished my university degree
and education as a whole and over the summer, the YouTube channel exploded.” But in one
way it's no surprise that he'd fit so well into the Let's Play world. Dan is and always has
been a passionate gamer, telling us, “I have always been a huge fan of video games, play-
ing since I was very young, all the way up until now. They have always been a big part of
my life; I have dabbled in video game design, digital art, animation and simply just playing
games while going through education, and the website YouTube gives me the perfect plat-
form to show my video creations to the world.”
