SebastianSB
patreon
(public video) Is the Let's Play Channel DYING?
🕑 Added 2025-04-16 22:44:16 +0000 UTCBonus ramble after the patreon Q&A I posted last night I guess lol
I'm in a bit of a pickle, because on top of everything else, the Early Access tier may be harming the channel. If my most dedicated fans are paying to watch the content early as a separate, unlisted video, then that's less support for the "real" video. Which means less engagement, which means the algorithm doesn't push it, which means the video flatlines and doesn't reach new people, which means the channel doesn't grow.
It's also harder to cover new releases for obvious reasons. Covering Critter Cove and Mars Vice at launch is probably why they're two of the biggest playthroughs I've done recently. But that kind of coverage has me shirking my responsibility to Patreon.
The issue though is that the Early Access stuff is also the most successful perk my Patreon has ever had, probably. It's a lot of my current income. So the intuitive solution: stop doing it, is potentially very costly lol
shrug
There are not easy answers here.
In an ideal world I'd just be making the content that I want to make or that I think is good for the channel, and wouldn't have to spend so much time figuring out how to monetize it all the time.
Maybe I only do early access for SOME playthroughs: the ones for games that aren't new releases. Maybe I cut the tier altogether, for the health of the channel. I wouldn't feel so bad about that, since it's not really ripping anyone off (you got the content while you were paying for it, now it's over, etc). But that would potentially mean losing thousands of dollars on my end, but then the channel doesn't start performing better either. Worst of both worlds lol
idk, I'm going on a trip, I'll think about it more later
Comments
Flora
Keith, I showed up for your video essays after seeing the ‘Legoshi is gay’ video and being sent on an Echo / Adastra rabbit hole. Your video essays are great. Your visual novel was great, and an increasable achievement for a months work. I have watched a selection of your let’s play series. The Echo / Adastra ones with Stephanie were great, and I loved you and Toaster digging into Arches. I only did that after I had read them myself and wanted to your insights after I had experienced it already. Otherwise, I’m not a fan of the genre of let’s play video. A video essay is much more approachable. I’ll watch a video essay of something I have zero interest in if it’s done by a creator I like. I want to emphasize that I watched these let’s plays as an extension of your video essay. Your essay told me there was something of value that you experienced, something compelling and worth seeing. The order was Adastra essay -> reading it myself -> rewatch of essay -> Let’s play. Without the essay I’d not be a patron, I’d not have watched the let’s play, I’d not have read the visual novels, I’d not be here hoping that you find a way forward. Your main channels is frustrating to be honest. Your let’s plays end up dominating up my subscriber tab until I decided to unsubscribe form your main channel (I’m a wiredo who uses the subscription tab, and don't want to overlook occasional posters). Thankfully you have a $4 tier here that lets me do that here, and I don’t lose your pod casts or your Q&A under the constant daily updates. I’d pay more, but the $5 and up tier does that to my feed on Patreon what your main channel does to my youtube Subscriber feed. What I’m saying is that I love your personality, your insights, and your charming voice. You are dripping in charisma and talent. If you want to experiment and try out different ideas. I’m here for it. I want to see more of your work with your creative fingerprint on it. I love gnollplaying games. I’ll stick around as long as I can.
unpronounceable_oq9
Would it maybe useful to optimize the conversion from first episode to patreon early access tier? For example with the blue prince playthrough it feels like you could have organized the release so that the episode publishes at the same time as the patreon access, which you can then shout out at the end of the video.
