Good morning. Ahead of Nintendo shutting down its Wii U and 3DS eShop this month, longtime gaming creator The Completionist spent north of $20K buying every game on the service before they became permanently unavailable.

One comment on The Completionist’s video detailing the buying spree? “Jirard out here becoming the modern Library of Alexandria for video games. You're my [hero], man.”

— Hannah Doyle & Nate Graber-Lipperman

'Faceless' Creators Speak on the Benefits of Anonymity

Minecraft creator Dream spent eight years uploading to YouTube anonymously. Now, five months after his viral face reveal video, Dream has announced plans to headline VidCon Anaheim this summer.

For Dream, appearing at VidCon Anaheim is a significant milestone in his post-face reveal career, which he's said has been marked by more business opportunities, more content collaborations, and more chances to meet his community (and other creators) in person.

“The transition was pretty easy,” Dream told Dexerto of life post-reveal. “Just seeing my friends…the joy and the excitement for that overrode any of the negatives.”

This got us thinking: Dream’s decision to swing from full anonymity to publicly appearing as a Featured Creator at one of the industry’s biggest events sparks a conversation about the value of appearing—and remaining—anonymous. So we sought out the perspectives of several “faceless” creators to understand their case for anonymity:

• Privacy. Some creators prefer to distance their personal lives from their online brands to avoid in-person confrontations (like “swatting”).

• Cost. Filming yourself can require a greater investment of both time and money—think camera equipment, lighting, and scripting.

• Authenticity. Some anonymous creators feel uploading anonymously alleviates worries about appearance, allowing for more experimentation and connection with their audience.

“A lot of people get stuck on ‘cringe’…[not showing our faces] got over the initial fear of it,” the anonymous creators behind gaming craft channel Dark Souls Models told us. But…they noted that if the right opportunities came along (such as a collaboration that felt natural or a business deal that allowed them to quit their day jobs), they would consider giving up their anonymity.

Twitch Gets a New CEO

After 11 years as CEO, Emmett Shear last week stepped down from his post at Twitch, citing plans to focus more on his family.

What’s next: Dan Clancy, formerly Twitch president, will take over as CEO as the company faces a round of layoffs.

Big picture: Twitch has faced a lot of criticism over the last year for its treatment of creators, and the competition from YouTube is heating up. Though Shear had an optimistic outlook on the future of Twitch in his exit blog, many creators remain skeptical of Clancy’s ability to turn things around.

• Streamer DansGaming pointed out that Clancy wrote the letter last fall justifying Twitch’s highly criticized decreased creator revenue split from 70/30 to 50/50.

• Jakenbake, who won IRL Streamer of the Year at last year’s Streamer Awards, said of Clancy at 2022’s Twitchcon, “I don't feel confident as a streamer on the platform with someone who is that out of touch with what streamers need and watch.”

• Ludwig’s take? “Twitch is a big enough company that even the CEO swapping means nothing will change in the short-term and [Clancy] was already leading the way as Twitch president,” Ludwig said in a recent video. “But I’ll give the guy a chance, as always.”

Tell us: What do you think of the new leadership at Twitch? Are you hopeful for its future—why or why not?

Creators Weigh In On the TikTok Ban

Last week, news broke that TikTok could be banned in the U.S. unless parent company ByteDance sells it.

We asked you what TikTok’s unclear future means for your creator journey—here are some of our top learnings:

It could impact income and production. “I would completely have to re-do my workflow,” sports creator Andrew Fenichel told us. “I use the effects in there, the music in there, the text from TikTok. Everything is done on that platform, then I download and post everywhere else.”

Fenichel also says TikTok is the main source of his sponsorships. “My audience is 10x more engaged and viewership is 10x more consistent on TikTok.”

Some creators are already living in a TikTok-less world. “I live in Taiwan and have lived in China for 10 years prior. I post almost every day to my 120K followers on Instagram, but I won’t put TikTok or any other Chinese-owned app on any of my devices,” woodworking creator Dave Momphard told us.

Colin and Samir’s take: No matter where creators find themselves, we have options. “[The ban] feels unlikely—but the fact that YouTube Shorts has created a viable option that is U.S.-owned and provides a good option for the independent creators who have built businesses on TikTok—makes it a bit more compelling now.”

👀 Creator Moves

• Futcrunch is hiring an IRL editor for their main channel.

• VictionaryHD is looking for a full-time editor to work on football content.

• Jedcal is hiring marketing and content creation interns to help grow his site, ratemydorm.

• Matt & Abby are looking for an executive assistant to help with scheduling and filming content.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Call Her Daddy launches a reality show on Spotify.

• Kai Cenat releases a documentary on his record-breaking subathon.

• Rhett and Link upload to their namesake channel for the first time in a year.

• Yes Theory launches a course with Creator Now.

• Michelle Khare is boxing against Andrea Botez in Creator Clash.

• Are you a creator with an online course business? Sign up for the Weekly Smarts Newsletter to get the latest insights in what’s working for leading course creators.*

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