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MD - Chapter 55: Viral video and Flappy Bird
🕑 Added 2025-02-10 16:12:55 +0000 UTCDecember 20, 2008
It had been just over 20 days since the last regular season game, in which Palisades School humiliated Jefferson School with an 80-0 victory.
Andrew uploaded the video to his new channel, where he would mainly post content about his sports life.
Howard had recorded the segment of the argument between Andrew and the three boys from Jefferson School, where they mocked his parents for being homosexual. Andrew called them pathetic because they were in fourth place and acted like they were a big deal.
He also told them that if he missed a pass, he would cut off his hand and send it to them by mail, and that after this game, they would never want to play football again because of the humiliation he would put them through.
In the end, everything he said came true. Andrew didn’t miss a single pass and completely humiliated them. They couldn’t even score a single touchdown the entire game. But that wasn’t all—they lost their fourth-place ranking and failed to qualify for the regional playoffs.
Howard told him to include the argument in the YouTube video, encouraging him not to fear success. He said Andrew’s intimidating and slightly maniacal personality—since it wasn’t exactly normal to say he’d cut off his hand for missing a pass—would be appealing.
Andrew thought about it and decided to go for it. So, he uploaded the video with a striking title:
[They insulted my family before the game, so I humiliated them (80-0) – Final Regular Season Football Game – Highlights]
The video went viral.
In these twenty days since it was posted, the video has reached half a million views and continues to climb.
Andrew never imagined that using a sensationalist title technique (though he wasn’t lying about the humiliation) would make his video, which was over ten minutes long, so popular. The video started with his introduction, followed by the argument with the Jefferson School boys, and finally, a compilation of Andrew’s best plays—which were many.
YouTube
📺 THEY INSULTED MY FAMILY BEFORE THE GAME, SO I HUMILIATED THEM (80-0) | FINAL REGULAR SEASON FOOTBALL GAME – HIGHLIGHTS
👤 Andrew Pritchett-Tucker
📌 29,832 subscribers
👁️ 503,683 views | ⏳ Posted 23 days ago
💬 8,534 Comments
[Comments Section]
@GridironKing23: This guy plays like he has an NFL contract and a personal vendetta on every pass.
@QB4Life: Anyone else watching this on repeat? 80-0, total humiliation.
@Brad1986: As a former Jefferson student… this is the worst day of my life.
@AndrewFanPage1: This video made me a fan of Andrew. Hope he keeps uploading content.
@HatersGonnaHate: All just for show. Let’s see if he does the same in a real game.
@Themonkey69: Incredible talent, but that ego might cost him. We’ll see if he can handle the pressure.
@HorseExterminator2000: Buy milk.
@Clarence77: “If I miss a single pass, I’ll cut off my hand” Bro, he really meant it. 💀
Andrew couldn’t believe he had gained so many subscribers in just 23 days—his channel wasn’t even a month old.
Beyond this first viral video, he continued uploading more content, taking advantage of his newfound popularity. Because of this, he surpassed one million total views across just five videos and reached nearly 30k subscribers.
Since he kept posting high-quality, well-edited videos, YouTube invited him to the Partner Program just twenty days after creating his channel.
Andrew didn’t expect this much success. In fact, he had already surpassed his first gaming channel in subscribers, which had recently reached 15,000 subscribers in almost five months—a steady and growing pace, but nothing as crazy as his new channel.
On his gaming channel, he was already part of the YouTube Partner Program. Fifteen days ago, he filled out the form, linked his father’s Google AdSense account, and everything was set up correctly.
YouTube transfers the money to the Google AdSense account between the 21st and 26th of the current month. So, in just a few days, Andrew would receive his first paycheck from YouTube.
Putting that aside, Flappy Bird had already been released on the Android Market.
His parents talked with Pippa’s parents and came to an agreement. Since Pippa had suggested that Andrew’s parents link their bank account and upload the game, her parents respected her decision.
The profits would be split 50/50 between Pippa and Andrew. It wasn’t a long or difficult discussion—Andrew believed that neither his parents nor Pippa’s thought that the game they had created could be a success or make a lot of money.
However, they were completely wrong.
Andrew had decided to go with a simple but effective strategy: a free version with ads and a premium version without ads. The idea was to offer players the option to enjoy the game for free but with ad interruptions, while those willing to pay a small amount could have an ad-free experience.
At that time, in-game advertising wasn’t as common or profitable as it is today. The CPM (cost per thousand impressions) was extremely low, averaging less than $1 USD per 1,000 ad views.
Additionally, the user base wasn’t as large as it would be in later years, since Android Market was just beginning to grow and didn’t yet have the number of smartphones or active users that exist today.
So, Andrew decided to price the premium version at just $1—affordable and ad-free.
The game was a success, partly thanks to his YouTube gaming channel, where he uploaded a video playing Flappy Bird and promoting it.
Downloads started to pile up quickly, and in just 20 days, the game had already generated approximately $7,500.
The free version of the game had 60,000 downloads, bringing in nearly $2,000 from ad revenue. Around 10% of those 60,000 users decided to buy the ad-free version. This resulted in about 6,000 purchases, generating $5,940 in revenue.
However, Google takes its 30% cut from each transaction. So after deducting Google’s share, the profit was $4,158.
Adding the ad revenue, the total earnings reached nearly $6,000 in just 20 days, leaving approximately $3,000 for each of them.
Here are some of the many reviews people left for Flappy Bird on the Android Market:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 stars)
User: SarahJane88
"Addictive and challenging!"
"This game is super addictive! At first, it was really frustrating, but it’s so simple and entertaining that I can’t stop playing. The mechanics are easy to understand, and I love how the retro design gives it a classic feel. Well done! It’s a great way to pass the time—whether you’re on the toilet or in class!"
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 stars)
User: Alex666
"Frustrating but fun"
"I love and hate this bird at the same time. It’s incredibly difficult, and sometimes it almost makes me want to throw my phone, but you keep playing for that little satisfaction of beating your high score. The only issue is that the controls can be a bit unresponsive at times. But overall, it keeps me hooked."
⭐⭐⭐ (3 stars)
User: Payasotriste
"Fun game, but it could be much better with improvements"
"I like the concept, but I feel the game needs some improvements. Sometimes the controls don’t respond well in the middle of the action, and they should add more content."
⭐⭐⭐ (3 stars)
User: Gamermaster77
"Great, but the ads can be annoying"
"It’s an amazing game, but the ads between each attempt are really annoying. After a few rounds, I ended up buying the premium version. I recommend it if you like simple yet challenging games, but it’s hard to fully enjoy it with so many ads."
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 stars)
User: Erikascuby1
"Super addictive!"
"I love this game, it’s way too addictive. I just want one thing: FOR THE BIRD NOT TO FALL. When I finally get a good score, I feel like a champion 💪🔥. That said, the free version has way too many ads, which made me hesitate, so I bought the premium version—totally worth it!"
User: Terminaitor321
⭐⭐⭐ (3 stars)
"Good, but the ads ruin it"
"I like the game, but after every attempt, there’s a 5-second ad that makes me wonder if it’s really worth playing. It’s addictive, but those ads are really annoying. Not sure if I’ll keep playing with so many of them."
User: FlappyisloveFlappyislife
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 stars)
"Best game ever!"
"I’m in love with Flappy Bird. Is that weird? I dream about him or her every time I go to sleep.
P.S. I see a lot of people complaining about ads—just pay for the premium version, you cheapskates! It’s only a damn dollar; you probably waste more on drugs or alcohol."
User: Sigmachad666
⭐ (1 star)
"No."
"F***** BIRD PIECE OF S***"
...
Ding… Ding…
Andrew's eyes slowly opened. The annoying alarm kept ringing. He checked the time—early morning. He had to go to school.
Today was Friday, December 20. The big day.
A big day for several reasons. The main one? The sectional championship final. Palisades School had made it to the regional playoffs final with an incredible winning streak. They kept dominating every game with massive point leads.
With each match, the team improved, and their hunger for victory grew. They won the round of 16, the quarterfinals, and the semifinals—the last one played away just last Friday, winning by more than 20 points.
Andrew uploaded all the game videos to his new YouTube channel. At first, he hadn’t planned to, but after seeing the popularity of his first video, he decided to turn it into a series—and it was working out really well.
'I have to record today… and study… and train too…' Andrew thought as he stared at the ceiling, feeling too lazy to get out of bed.
It was freezing, and he had stayed up late last night editing a video for his gaming channel, where he played with Ringo and Wazowski (Howard and Leonard). They had also started their own YouTube channel, and it was going really well for them too.
Aside from the regional playoffs final, today was also the last day of school before the two-week Christmas break.
'Maximum effort…' Andrew thought as he slowly got out of bed and started changing, bracing himself against the cold.
Comments
Alkole
Thanks for the chapter. Honestly I'm just glad he ain't becoming a millionaire from something as luck based as flappy birds. I mean he should make money from it but hopefully he doesn't become a multimillionaire until he is a bit older otherwise everything will start to revolve around money
