Erik “Gronkh” Range became famous almost 15 years ago with Let’s Plays on YouTube. But he has somewhat lost interest in it today, as he explains in a YouTube video. He is torn between doing Let’s Plays on YouTube and streaming on Twitch.
What made Gronkh famous?
- Gronkh became famous as an influencer in gaming before the term even existed: he started publishing his “Let’s Plays” on YouTube in 2010.
- In a Let’s Play, a content creator plays a game and talks to their viewers. However, there is no interaction with them: The YouTuber often speaks in “we” but ultimately plays alone, records the video, and uploads it later.
- Gronkh, with his calm demeanor and pleasant voice, playing Minecraft is a memory many adult German gamers hold tightly to their childhood. While other childhood heroes stumble, this is unimaginable for Gronkh.
Streaming is much more fun for Gronkh today than Let’s Plays
What does Gronkh enjoy doing today? Today, Gronkh prefers streaming. He is active on Twitch and chats with his audience. The problem is: His regular viewers on YouTube feel neglected and get “pissed off,” which he can understand.
He explains this in a YouTube video from June 20:
I would love to stream more. But I would also like to do real Let’s Plays again – that is, more, or at least once again. But somehow I am currently more into streaming. I find it significantly more fun than sitting here and recording something.
Gronkh explains that when he is not working or streaming, he currently tries to spend as little time as possible at the computer. He prefers to use the time to do sports or “PiPaPo” (a children’s game). He explains that he is torn about what he should do:
- He understands that his fans on YouTube are dissatisfied.
- But the fans also don’t want him to play games on Twitch in the stream and then upload them to YouTube, because he appears so unfocused there.
As a solution for himself, Gronkh is now considering streaming on Twitch and doing “Live Let’s Plays” there, but being less interactive with the chat, which would cause stress right away if he doesn’t come up with a solution to a puzzle within a minute.
This is an additional problem for him: Gronkh has a bit of a luxury problem. These days, employees are taking more and more work off his hands: He used to do all the thumbnails, editing, and planning of videos himself, but today it is handled by employees.
This is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, he now has much more time for himself, and he needs it. He is incredibly grateful for that. But at the same time, he also loses some of the connection and feel for his main channel, as he says. Again and again, he finds himself wishing to make a thumbnail or to be hands-on with the editing.
Overall, however, he is optimistic: “I will manage it again.” He says he needs to reorganize himself and find himself again.
Gronkh gives the impression that he has long since played through the “influencer game” and is now solely focusing on what he enjoys: Gronkh declined a deal for “a lot of money” and instead played the new cat game on Twitch
