Good morning. There’s a creator niche, then there’s a creator niche. Perry James of Afoolzerrand falls into the second category: He exclusively reviews chocolate milk. Over the last few years, he's reviewed over 1,700 varieties, revealing the choco milk nuances we never knew existed. Hit reply and let us know: Who are your favorite hyper-specific creators?

— Hannah Doyle & Nate Graber-Lipperman

100 Thieves Refocuses on Esports, Apparel

Esports brand 100 Thieves is laying off roughly 20% of its staff, marking the second round of layoffs for the company this year. 

The downsizing is part of an overall brand restructuring, which includes spinning out 100 Thieves’ game development studio and energy drink brand Juvee to run independently without the company’s support.

Why downsize? Since 100 Thieves expanded into video games and beverages last year, sales have fallen short of expectations. “The growth of our business did not keep pace with the growth of our organization,” president and COO John Robinson shared on X (formerly Twitter). 

Now, 100 Thieves is refocusing on its “core” products: esports, content, and apparel.

What creators are saying:

• “This is concerning not just for 100 Thieves, but for esports as a whole,” esports commentator Jake Lucky said on his show Gamer Update. “It was clearly too much overhead and spending than what made sense. At least they took a risk as opposed to other esports orgs that slowly withered away into layoffs.”

• “The gaming industry continues to take massive blows to an extremely talented workforce,” streamer Hunter Grooms said on X. This round of 100 Thieves layoffs included its esports content lead Andrew White, long-time designer Gregory "Seso" Ortiz, and head of social media Micah Kulish.

Big picture: Esports has taken hit after hit this year, from FaZe Clan’s stock tanking to both esports org Evil Geniuses and game development studio Bungie Studios laying off staff in the last week alone. 

Smosh Revives Popular Series as Channel Surges

YouTube sketch comedy creators Smosh are bringing back their beloved “Food Battle” competition for the first time in seven years on November 17. 

Context: Smosh cofounders Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla uploaded their first “Food Battle” video in 2006, and it became an annual tradition for the next decade until Padilla left Smosh in 2017.

“Food Battle” returns as Smosh is surging in popularity following Hecox and Padilla’s June decision to buy back the brand they started. The two are now writing, directing, and starring in sketches together again, and the audience seems to have bought in—even as Hecox and Padilla have slowed their output.

FYI: Average monthly viewership for Smosh during the second half of this year is around 55M views, up from about 16M views prior to Padilla’s return to Smosh. 

Zoom out: The comment section of the “Food Battle 2023” trailer suggests that Padilla and Hecox’s renewed presence onscreen is resonating with their core fans. “It's the most iconic series Smosh has ever done, and I've missed the annual rivalry so much. Ian's pink donut is going down!” one fan wrote.

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Fourthwall Launches Fully-Branded Mobile Apps for Creators

Creator ecommerce platform Fourthwall just debuted a feature that allows creators to launch fully-branded mobile apps for their subscription memberships.

The why: “Clunky [web] browsers” were a subpar user experience for fans to access premium content on mobile, creator and Fourthwall beta tester Dan Lambert of I Could Murder a Podcast said in a statement. Additionally, Fourthwall said that its push notification features helped increase engagement on creators’ member posts by up to 29% during beta testing.

Zoom out: Apple and Google are notorious for their “app store tax” that takes a cut of sales from mobile apps downloaded through their app stores. 

Unlike competitors like Patreon, Fourthwall plans to allow members to download the unique mobile apps directly from creators’ websites—which helps creators avoid app store taxes and decrease their business expenses.

👀 Creator Moves

• Jenny Hoyos is hiring a video editor to cut footage down into clean, aesthetically pleasing shorts.

• Jomboy Media is looking for a marketing strategist to lead ideation for video integrations across channels.

• Daniel Thrasher is hiring a creative producer to oversee video development and execution.

Go here to browse more roles or post your own.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Travis Hunter signs an NIL deal with American Eagle.

• TajaAI, a tool for YouTubers that auto-generates titles, descriptions, and more, is offering 30% off with promo code PPC30Taja.*

• Gaming creator Cozy K shares her thoughts on why it’s important to create “for yourself.”

• Lemon8, the Bytedance-owned photo-sharing app launched in February, sputters to only 2.6 million U.S. downloads in 2023.

• Coffeezilla is making a one-hour documentary about the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried.

• The Sidemen’s XIX Vodka will be sold at Tesco, the U.K.’s largest grocery store chain, starting tomorrow.

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