Felix Kjellberg, known by his internet pseudonym "PewDiePie", is back on YouTube after a brief break and he had a surprise for long standing fans of his content.
At the beginning of 2021, PewDiePie admitted that his work and life balance had been out of line for some time, and he was becoming unwell as a result of the stress. "I think I'm actually gonna take a couple of days. I know I've already said it, but I might not stream for a while just to take some full time off and just come back fully charged," said the streamer while playing Minecraft. "So yeah, I'll be offline for a week, two weeks, maybe three weeks. I don't know." Fans rallied to his side to support him, and asked that he took all the time he needed to be back to his old self again.
Having created his channel in 2010, focusing on horror titles like Amnesia: The Dark Descent, PewDiePie's videos have gathered over 26 billion views and he has over 108 million subscribers at the time of writing. It is the most-subscribed YouTube channel managed by an individual, and he is currently the 19th-most-viewed channel on the website. His stratospheric trajectory to internet superstardom hasn't been without controversy. In 2017, PewDiePie hit the headlines for paying two individuals to hold a sign that had anti-Semitic language, once more for using a racial slur in a game of PUBG, and again in 2018 for ridiculing singer Demi Lovato's experiences with addiction. He has since apologised for these incidents.
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With a jubilant video announcing his return to YouTube, PewDiePie revealed that things will be a little different on his channel from now on. He'll be using an avatar to represent himself online, like Dream, Corpse Husband, Pokimane and other streamers do, calling it a "reverse-facereveal". "I've realized that the only way for me to stay relevant at this point... it's necessary for me to do this," said PewDiePie jokingly. "Corpse Husband... no face cam, no face reveal, massively popular. Dream... no face cam, no face reveal, massively popular."
He said that he would use the highest rated photo on his channel's subreddit as a temporary avatar, which turned out to be a photoshop of PewDiePie with his head shaved and a full beard, and wearing glasses. It's a bit disappointing that it isn't anything more creative, but rules are rules. And, it's not evident whether this is a permanent change to his content creation process, or whether he's only poking fun at a recent trend.
Featured Image Credit: PewDiePie, G Fuel EnergyTopics: News