The Brit Jarvis “Jarvis” Kaye was permanently banned from the online shooter Fortnite in 2019. The YouTuber used an aim-bot to present exciting content to his viewers. In a video, where he was crying, he begged Epic Games for mercy, but they showed none. He remained banned. But why did this ban make him famous? How has the YouTuber fared after the ban?
This is how the streamer was back then:
- FaZe Jarvis was quite young at 17 in 2019, but on the rise. Thanks to his older brother Kaye, who also worked on YouTube, he had a head start, could join the large FaZe clan early, and enjoyed excellent connections.
- The 17-year-old made his clicks almost exclusively with Fortnite videos in 2019: He set himself challenges with handicaps and accomplished them, reported on leaks, played with attractive young women. Furthermore, he entered many collaborations with other members of the FaZe clan. The most popular video from that time shows how he annoys his own brother in Fortnite until he logs off.
- The style of his videos was colorful and bright. Much was exaggerated, some staged, and some quite silly. The videos were clearly aimed at a young audience. In one video, however, he went too far to produce content and used an aimbot. Epic Games made an example of Jarvis and banned him for life.
Jarvis is one of the legends of Fortnite’s “Hype Years”, just like him:
What was special about the ban? The ban of FaZe Jarvis was particularly special because it was the first time a content creator as a person was permanently banned from Fortnite – and then also someone relatively young.
Even the then biggest Twitch streamer Ninja asked Epic Games for mercy, saying they couldn’t take away the boy’s livelihood.
FaZe Jarvis handled this ban offensively and apologized in a video where he broke down in tears. To this day, it remains the second most popular video on his channel with 23 million views. Only a “rap video” where he sang about the ban garnered more viewers.
What stood out was that Jarvis, who usually appeared so cheeky, looked like a pile of misery in the video and begged for mercy.
After the ban, Jarvis constantly makes videos about the ban
How has he fared in the time after the ban? Jarvis is now 21 years old, still on YouTube, but no longer a member of the FaZe clan.
He has milked this ban from Fortnite almost endlessly in the year following his ban.
In the first year after his ban, videos emerged that claimed:
- He had to stop with YouTube and start a normal job
- He had to go back to school
- He secretly plays Fortnite again
- He gets caught playing Fortnite secretly
- A schoolyard bully forces him to play Fortnite
- He plays extremely bad Fortnite clones
- He is unbanned from Fortnite for 24 hours
- He sneaks into a Fortnite event and gets thrown out
These videos were all surprisingly successful, certainly much more successful than the videos he usually made.
FaZe Jarvis tries different themes, then discovers boxing for himself
This is how it went on: From around the end of 2020, Jarvis seemed to slowly leave his Fortnite trauma behind, and the clicks also dwindled. Jarvis continued with flashy YouTube videos that picked up known trends that other YouTubers had already set.
Now it was a lot about women, crushes, food, pets, his girlfriend, strange challenges, various “Oh, she’s pregnant” pranks.
When success also slowly declined around 2021, Jarvis went on a sports trip and discovered amateur boxing for himself. “Influencers get fit and box against each other” was a typical YouTube trend of that time. In Germany, it arrived relatively late in 2022 with Trymacs.
From 2022 onwards, Jarvis then mixed Fortnite content into his boxing videos time and again:
- He survived 50 hours in Fortnite
- Epic Games wants to sue him for having unbanned himself in Fortnite
- He sneaked into the TwitchCon to get unbanned in Fortnite
Just a few days ago, on June 17, 2023, a video titled “I was banned by Epic Games. So I made Fortnite 2.” was released.
Jarvis is suspended from the clan due to a crypto ad going totally wrong
Why is he out of his clan? Jarvis, his brother Kaye, and 2 other members of the influential FaZe clan had promoted the cryptocurrency “Save the kids” in 2021, which turned out to be a “pump and dump” scam.
The FaZe clan subsequently fired his brother, Kaye, and suspended Jarvis indefinitely.
Jarvis later released a video in which he said: He could have returned to the clan but decided against it because he did not want to be there without his brother.
Jarvis has been riding the “I am banned from Fortnite” wave for 4 years, with declining success
How can this be summarized? Jarvis’s career has certainly been somewhat derailed by the ban from Fortnite, but ultimately he has made “I was banned from Fortnite and everyone knows it” part of his identity and exploited it endlessly.
The fact that videos with the same twist still work even today, albeit with declining success, seems to justify him.
His ban from Fortnite is the unique characteristic that sets him apart from all others who provide similar content as he does.
What stands out about Jarvis is that
- he portrays Epic Games as an enemy – he acts as if some kind of FBI is after him, trying to monitor and take him down when he plays Fortnite
- he has practically nothing to do with gaming outside of Fortnite
- he closely collaborates with his brother, who made him a topic repeatedly in his videos back then and still does today
The fact that the guy you know from crying in a video in front of 20 million people at 17 is now a 21-year-old amateur boxer acting tough and letting himself be photographed with women in a pool is not without a certain comedy.
As a content creator, Jarvis is still relatively successful, although it is a constant roller coaster. Currently, his channel seems to be struggling more, with most videos in 2023 staying under one million views.
With his expulsion from FaZe, both he and his brother have lost quite a bit of connections and relevance.
Has the ban from Fortnite harmed him? Ultimately, the ban from Fortnite seems to have been beneficial for his career – the videos he made before the ban would not have been as successful today, four years later. In this case, audacity has won.
In 2019, another teenager became famous overnight due to something that happened in Fortnite:
