Michael “MckyTV” Doleys (31) is one of the bigger streamers on German Twitch. But that should come to an end now, as the 31-year-old plans to retire from streaming. However, he wants to go out with a bang.
What kind of streamer is he? Michael “MckyTV” Doleys has been streaming regularly on Twitch since October 2016. He started with World of Warcraft and Clash Royale. By now, he has 1.3 million followers and belongs to the larger German streamers (via SullyGnome).
But all of this is supposed to come to an end: Mcky announced on March 31, 2024, that he plans to retire from streaming. Before that, he wants to go out with a bang and host a Subathon.
During such marathon streams, content creators often come up with special rewards for their fans when certain goals are achieved.
Mcky says: “There wasn’t much else in my life”
Why is he stopping? After Mcky had already announced his big news to his viewers in the stream on March 31, he elaborated on his reasons in a YouTube video on April 2.
The 31-year-old reports that streaming has determined a huge part of his life. He was fully into Minecraft fever in January of this year and streamed for 322 hours – that’s more than 11 hours a day on average. “There wasn’t much else in my life,” Mcky said: “Sleep, get up, eat something, stream, wake up, maybe a phone call.”
He feels he has spent half of his life streaming, the content creator explains. His personal development, but also time with his family, have sometimes taken a back seat. In the future, he probably wants to have more time for his girlfriend and his children.
When he returned to the online world after a week with his children, it greatly worsened his mood. He feels increasingly disconnected from social media and streaming. The interaction with one another on the internet has become noticeably more unpleasant in recent years, the streamer added.
At the same time, he also feels that he can no longer meet his own quality standards. He feels burned out from streaming.
However, Mcky also openly admits that he is simply no longer reliant on the income from streaming and emphasizes how grateful he is to his fans and supporters for that.
You can watch his announcement here:
This is how MckyTV says goodbye: For his farewell, the streamer has planned something special: a Subathon with no end in sight. This means there is no time limit for the duration of the marathon stream. Mcky expects it to last several months, maybe even half a year.
In a Subathon, the remaining duration of the stream is extended with each subscription completed. Once the timer hits 0, the stream ends. For Mcky, this will also be the end of his streaming career.
For his big farewell streaming marathon, Mcky wants to install 3 additional setups in his house. With several guests, Mcky plans various activities. There will be cooking streams, gym content, and even an ice bath – hopefully something better planned than with Papaplatte.
Is this an April Fools’ joke? Despite the somewhat suspicious timing, Mcky has repeatedly emphasized that the announcement is not an April Fools’ joke. The stream in which he informed his viewers about his retirement plans took place on March 31, and the corresponding YouTube video followed on April 2.
So it seems that Mcky is serious about this. In fact, there seems to be a real wave of Twitch streamers and YouTubers currently turning their backs on being content creators:
