MatPat Announces Retirement From YouTube

The Game Theorists creator MatPat has announced his retirement from YouTube.

In a new video titled “Goodbye Internet,” MatPat, whose real name is Matthew Patrick, stated that March 9 would be his last day hosting his YouTube franchise and that he will be “handing off the channels to someone else.”

“For me, and my journey in this place, I always wanted to go out on a high note,” he said in the video. “And when you stop and look at the last year, this has been the best year in the Theorist lifespan, no joke.”

MatPat created Game Theorists with his wife Stephanie in 2011 as a platform to discuss the lore and wildest theories behind popular video games. The YouTube star eventually launched several spin-off channels, including Film Theorists, Food Theorists and Style Theorists. As of January, the gaming channel alone has amassed 18.4 million subscribers.

Last year, MatPat hosted the Streamy Awards, which scored 15 million views across all digital platforms in its first 48 hours. The 2023 awards ceremony set a record as the most-watched show in the event’s 13-year history, beating the 2021 record of 9.7 million views.

MatPat explained in his farewell video that he wanted to spend more time with his family, having been “work first for over a decade.”

“We knew that honestly, we didn’t want to do this forever,” MatPat said. “As much as I love you and I love overthinking things, and I love theorizing, I don’t love late nights.”

“I miss the days where I could just sit down on the couch with [Stephanie] and play video games, and it’s not for content,” he continued. “Or I’m playing a game, and I’m not thinking about what theories are gonna come out of that. I miss it.”